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Image From: The Advocate 

Almost two months following the fatal shooting of the unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin, which occured on February 26th, 2012 in a gated community in Florida, the circumstances surrounding his death have been refracted through a variety of lenses: local and national protests have claimed solidarity with the fallen teen; gun control advocates and gun ownership advocates have debated the efficacy of "Stand your Ground" laws; and conflicted media reports have coursed through the charnal houses of cable and network news, presenting and altering evidence along the way. The whole thing started with George Zimmerman, his alleged killer, looking at the young man in a hoodie; and the response to this dimension of the event will be my subject today.

  Image Credit: Nola.com

Early in the case, Trayvon Martin's hoodie was singled out as a factor which allegedly piqued George Zimmerman's suspicion about the young man. Though it had been raining, it has been said that the self-appointed neighborhood watchman saw this as a sign that he was suspicious. "This guy looks like he's been up to no good, or he's on drugs or something," Zimmerman told the 911 dispatcher. Carrying a gun, Zimmerman followed Martin and, after an altercation, Martin, who was carrying a can of ice tea and a pack of Skittles at the time, had been killed. Claiming solidarity with the fallen young man, thousands of protestors (like those pictured at the New Orleans rally above) donned Martin's apparel, protesting racial profiling and Zimmerman's alleged inferences. Before being removed from the floor of the House of Representatives for violating the House dress code, congressman Bobby Rush explained: "Just because someone wears a hoodie does not make them a hoodlum."

Image from Geraldoinahoodie.tubmlr.com

There was a counterreaction to this visual argument, however. Four weeks after Trayvon was killed, Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera argued "I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin's death as Zimmerman was." Geraldo argued that, as a person of color like himself, Martin should have been aware that this would have made him vulnerable to the racial anxieties of whites who would stereotype him. Geraldo's comments, which he has since distanced himself from, have prompted the advent of the "Geraldo in a hoodie" Tumblr blog, which features the newsman taking exception to his injunction. Taking an opposite tack,Missisippi rapper and producer David Banner, who thinks that all of this emphasis on the hoodie simply plays into Geraldo's argument, says that the emphasis on clothing could get in the way of the deeper issue of racial justice: even so, he argues that "America is showing young black men: If you don't make us comfortable around you, we will kill you," he told MTV News on March 29. "As much as people don't want to admit it, that's what this is about." 

A group of Howard University students present their response: "Do I look Suspicious?"