Geraldo: Hoody got the young man killed
If you want to argue that wearing a hoodie makes you more "suspicious-looking" (i.e. black-looking), sure. If Trayvon had been dressed like Urkel I'm sure people would have regarded him as less "suspicious". However, Zimmerman had a long history of calling 911 every time he saw black people (including children) in his neighborhood, so I'm going to say that even if Trayvon was wearing a nice suit this psycho would have thought he was a pimp and shot him anyways.
I think this is more race-politics than anything on Geraldo's part, since Zimmerman is hispanic all the hispanic pundits have to chime in to maintain the illusion that only white people are capable of racism.
Edit: It just occurred to me the other piece of the puzzle: Geraldo works for Faux News. That channel is the king of "coded racist stuff to scare old white people".
I think this is more race-politics than anything on Geraldo's part, since Zimmerman is hispanic all the hispanic pundits have to chime in to maintain the illusion that only white people are capable of racism.
Edit: It just occurred to me the other piece of the puzzle: Geraldo works for Faux News. That channel is the king of "coded racist stuff to scare old white people".
Quote: (03-23-2012 05:42 PM)bigxxx Wrote:
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politic...are-blame/
Is he nuts?
Or making a valid point?
Answer: Neither
Geraldo is SMART because he knows making a weak argument on a highly volatile subject will generate more attention on himself.
UNFORTUNATELY, he has a "can't miss" formula because one thing I kind of dislike about MY FOLKS is that we are too emotional and can be rattled to the point of not focusing on the bigger picture.
I posted this previously on the ALEC post, but thought I'd copy/paste it here with something in an additional paragraph.
Here's the inevitable direction this was going to go in - finding something, anything, that somehow provoked this tragic incident. The hoody. An article of clothing that is worn by pretty much every member of society everyday, by both genders. Let's avoid the REAL reason, and distract from that by raising weak mitigating factors. It's one thing for a person to walk into a bank wearing a hood or a ski mask (there would be a reasonable question as to whether or not this person was attempting to rob the bank), but walking the street in the rain with your hood up? And again, he made it a point to single out black and latino males, making it just fine for others to wear hoodies, because naturally no one would ever suspect them of wrongdoing. What's next? New Era caps? You know how popular THOSE are with blacks and latinos, right? The bottom line, no matter what he's wearing, black and latino males are "threatening" to some simply for looking the way they look, not because of what they're wearing. Geraldo tried to soften this by making it personal - he, as a father, gives this same warning to his own son. Just the same, it's a crime in and of itself that a man with a criminal record (yes, he was arrested for assault on a peace officer) hasn't been taken into custody for essentially executing a young man on the street. We can talk about how much things have changed, but then something like this happens and justice is either extremely slow, or non-existent.
The only valid part of this point is to say that if a certain segment of the public finds blacks and latinos threatening if they are dressed a certain way, those people should avoid dressing that way as a matter of their own personal safety. But that's a slippery slope, because there will always be certain fashion trends that become popular with certain youth. It distracts from the point that it isn't the clothing. It's the person inside it. A person that engages you in a certain way is threatening. Not a person that's simply walking along minding their own business. Zimmerman created the very circumstances that he used as a justification to execute someone. He isn't a peace officer, and doesn't have the authority to stop, detain or question. HE was the threat to Trayvon, not the other way around. If Trayvon reacted in a belligerent manner, he was perfectly justified in doing so.
Here's the inevitable direction this was going to go in - finding something, anything, that somehow provoked this tragic incident. The hoody. An article of clothing that is worn by pretty much every member of society everyday, by both genders. Let's avoid the REAL reason, and distract from that by raising weak mitigating factors. It's one thing for a person to walk into a bank wearing a hood or a ski mask (there would be a reasonable question as to whether or not this person was attempting to rob the bank), but walking the street in the rain with your hood up? And again, he made it a point to single out black and latino males, making it just fine for others to wear hoodies, because naturally no one would ever suspect them of wrongdoing. What's next? New Era caps? You know how popular THOSE are with blacks and latinos, right? The bottom line, no matter what he's wearing, black and latino males are "threatening" to some simply for looking the way they look, not because of what they're wearing. Geraldo tried to soften this by making it personal - he, as a father, gives this same warning to his own son. Just the same, it's a crime in and of itself that a man with a criminal record (yes, he was arrested for assault on a peace officer) hasn't been taken into custody for essentially executing a young man on the street. We can talk about how much things have changed, but then something like this happens and justice is either extremely slow, or non-existent.
The only valid part of this point is to say that if a certain segment of the public finds blacks and latinos threatening if they are dressed a certain way, those people should avoid dressing that way as a matter of their own personal safety. But that's a slippery slope, because there will always be certain fashion trends that become popular with certain youth. It distracts from the point that it isn't the clothing. It's the person inside it. A person that engages you in a certain way is threatening. Not a person that's simply walking along minding their own business. Zimmerman created the very circumstances that he used as a justification to execute someone. He isn't a peace officer, and doesn't have the authority to stop, detain or question. HE was the threat to Trayvon, not the other way around. If Trayvon reacted in a belligerent manner, he was perfectly justified in doing so.
"The best kind of pride is that which compels a man to do his best when no one is watching."
I don't understand the outrage...Geraldo is pretty solid when it comes to speaking about race in the U.S. I think the point he was implying is that sometimes you have to manage the fear, ignorance, and prejudices of other ppl bc they can't do it themselves.
Quote: (03-23-2012 10:14 PM)Caramel Communist Wrote:
I don't understand the outrage...Geraldo is pretty solid when it comes to speaking about race in the U.S. I think the point he was implying is that sometimes you have to manage the fear, ignorance, and prejudices of other ppl bc they can't do it themselves.
Yes, that was his point, but think about it the other way. It makes some of us less "free" than others. The irrational fear of one group forces another group to essentially live in fear. It makes some citizens more important than others, and in a sense, allows one group to dictate and control another. It bothers me that Geraldo didn't place the blame where it belongs - he tried to shift it somewhere else. In the past I've applauded Geraldo's courage and willingness to put himself out there and take risks in his work. That doesn't mean he was right on this one.
"The best kind of pride is that which compels a man to do his best when no one is watching."
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