When Will Congress Take Action On Hoodie-Control Legislation?

The tragic story of Trayvon Martin has completely dominated the news media this week, but the elites in the mainstream media (myself included), as well as the tens of thousands who have rallied to support the young victim’s family, have completely missed the point. Luckily, Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera has the wisdom and courage to identify the real culprit in all of this, the national disgrace that is the hooded sweatshirt. It falls to you and me to take up Geraldo’s gauntlet, and demand action.

As the killing of 17 year-old Trayvon Martin by hyper-vigilant busybody George Zimmerman rose to national prominence, the young victim’s family led the national media in a wrong-headed conversation about racist, negligent police, and that same mainstream media focused on peripheral issues, like whether or not Zimmerman grumbled the words “fucking coons” right before he gunned Trayvon Martin down. Finally, though, Geraldo spoke out to say that, while George Zimmerman bears some responsibility for Trayvon’s death, the young man’s jacket is equally to blame:

“I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was.”

That’s a bold, uncomfortable statement, but it happened, people, and you can’t un-hear it. If you fail to act now, the next teenager’s blood is on your hands.

Now, I’m not saying that Congress should ban “hoodies” outright, that’d be insane. Such a scenario would ensure that only criminals could sport light, comfortable outerwear. But there should be controls. For example, while there are some safety features currently available, Congress could pass a law requiring that all “hoodies” be emblazoned with the words “Abercrombie & Fitch.”

Congress should also establish a national “hoodie” ownership registry, complete with background checks and a 48-hour waiting period (at least). They should also move quickly to close the inevitable “fashion show loophole.”

You can file Geraldo’s absurd remarks under the category of “Lazy Pragmatism,” which is really just a way to avoid the heavy lift involved in actually thinking about things. If people like George Zimmerman go icy inside when they see a dark person in a hoodie, the answer must be to get dark people to stop wearing hoodies, or at least part of the answer. Never mind that a paranoid cop wannabe with the 911 Suspicious Black hotline on speed-dial gets to walk around free with the 9mm handgun he used to gun down a teenager, or that the police treated that teenager like a side of beef, the key difference being that the side of beef actually has value, or that there are reasons for wearing a hoodie other than “looking gangsta,” or that this is America, and we have the right to “look gangsta.”

Geraldo’s advice was offered, I’m sure, with the best of intentions, but he mashed a legitimate (if debatable) point together with something it didn’t belong with. Whether or not dark-skinned kids should wear “gangsta” attire is its own deep topic. Aside from utility, clothing serves other functions, like expression, and the right of dark-skinned teenagers to express themselves shouldn’t be so easily outweighed by the right of other people not to piss themselves. If seeing a black teenager in a hoodie makes you want to cross the street, well…cross the damn street. Or don’t. Either way, just don’t shoot him in the chest.

While it’s understandable to want to do everything possible to lessen the risk of harm to your children, saying that the hoodie was “as much responsible” for what happened to Trayvon as the man who shot him is dangerous, stupid, and wrong. Hoodie or not, Trayvon Martin would still be alive today if he hadn’t been wearing the one thing he couldn’t take off: his skin.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.