I’m mostly offline today but I went online enough to see this mind-boggling assertion by Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera. I’ve often defended Rivera, noting that he was an excellent reporter in his earlier years before me became more celebrity than working journalist. But no more.
My reaction is not “PC.” It’s to the logic and the fact that it sends out a VERY dangerous message to others. He deplored the killing of 17 year old Trayvon Martin but suggested that Martin wearing a hoodie was part of the reason and that when people dress that way, that can happen. Think Progress:
On the March 23 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends, Fox News contributor Geraldo Rivera reacted to the killing of 17-year-old, unarmed Florida resident Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman by claiming, “I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman.”Rivera said: “I believe that George Zimmerman, the overzealous neighborhood watch captain should be investigated to the fullest extent of the law and if he is criminally liable, he should be prosecuted” but went on to claim Martin “wore an outfit that allowed someone to respond in this irrational, overzealous way.”
BRIAN KILMEADE (co-host): Let’s talk about the Trayvon Martin case and what’s going on in Florida right now.
GERALDO RIVERA: Well, I have a different take, Brian, on that. I believe that George Zimmerman, the overzealous neighborhood watch captain should be investigated to the fullest extent of the law and if he is criminally liable, he should be prosecuted. But I am urging the parents of black and Latino youngsters particularly to not let their children go out wearing hoodies. I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was.
JULIET HUDDY (guest-host): What do you mean?
RIVERA: When you, when you see a kid walking — Juliet — when you see a kid walking down the street, particularly a dark skinned kid like my son Cruz, who I constantly yelled at when he was going out wearing a damn hoodie or those pants around his ankles. Take that hood off, people look at you and they — what do they think? What’s the instant identification, what’s the instant association?
STEVE DOOCY (co-host): Uh-oh.
RIVERA: It’s those crime scene surveillance tapes. Every time you see someone sticking up a 7-11, the kid is wearing a hoodie. Every time you see a mugging on a surveillance camera or they get the old lady in the alcove, it’s a kid wearing a hoodie. You have to recognize that this whole stylizing yourself as a gangsta, you’re gonna be a gangsta wannabe? Well, people are going to perceive you as a menace. That’s what happens. It is an instant reflexive action. Remember Juan Williams, our colleague? Our brilliant colleague? He got in trouble with NPR because he said Muslims in formal garb at the airport conjure a certain reaction in him or response in him? That’s an automatic reflex. Juan wasn’t defending it. He was explaining that that’s what happens when he sees these particular people in that particular place.
When you see a black or Latino youngster, particularly on the street, you walk to the other side of the street. You try to avoid that confrontation. Trayvon Martin’s you know, god bless him, he’s an innocent kid, a wonderful kid, a box of Skittles in his hand. He didn’t deserve to die. But I’ll bet you money, if he didn’t have that hoodie on, that — that nutty neighborhood watch guy wouldn’t have responded in that violent and aggressive way.
DOOCY: What about the fact that — I mean, the people of New York, a couple of nights ago, they had a “Million Hoodie March.” You’re not helping.
RIVERA: You can not rehabilitate the hoodie. You’re not going to — I understand that the reaction might be overzealous or even irrational in some extent, I mean, when you look at the statistics. It may be. But you’re not going to rehabilitate the hoodie. You’re not going to —
DOOCY: Just stop wearing it.RIVERA: Stop wearing it! Don’t let your kid — you know the old Johnny Cash song, don’t take your gun to town, son. Leave your gun at home. There is some things that are almost inevitable. I’m not suggesting that Trayvon Martin had any kind of weapon or anything, but he wore an outfit that allowed someone to respond in this irrational, overzealous way and if he had been dressed more appropriately, I think unless it’s raining out, or you’re at a track meet, leave the hoodie home. Don’t let your children go out there.
HUDDY: Perception is reality.
So we learned here: Rivera thinks hoodies are gangsta gear. REALITY:
DEAR MR. RIVERA:
Let me clue you in:1. You see people of all ages wearing hoodies. Visit any school. Elementary schools. Some of these kids wear hoodies. So if an 8 year old is blown away by some guy who feels he has authority because he sees a kid in a hoodie it’s understandable? How old do you have to be when it is understandable that wearing a hoodie a)may get you murdered, b)may be an explanation for the murder? Except for wearing a ski mask, since when does a piece of clothing in any way explain or even remotely justify ending someone’s life?
2. I have seen many young kids and people of all ages and races wearing hoodies. Should they now make hoodies with targets on their backs since that what hoodies really are?
3. If someone wears baggie pants is it understandable that they be shot dead if they are armed with Skiittles and iced tea?
4. Suppose a man wearing a tux or leather jacket is killed in a very poor neighborhood. What would you say to someone who said, “Well he was earing a tux and leather jacket in a poor neighborhood. That’s what you get when you decide to dress wealthy in a poor area.”
The hotel I’m in now has a computer that won’t let me post graphics so I can’t post the jump the shark graphic.
It isn’t PC to object to Rivera’s comments. If he was on any other network than Fox he’d be demoted. But, then, his comments have demoted himself more than Fox could ever demote him.
You’ve heard of the Twinkie defenses? Geraldo is seemingly suggesting a new one:
The Hoodie defense.
P.S. Mr. Rivera. Get out of your limo and visit places with young people of all ages. Young people of all ages and sexes wear hoodies. It is no longer gangster attire. In fact, when I was living in New Haven, CT in the 50s jackets with hoodies were standard fare in the winter and spring.
But no one considered me a Jewish gangster.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.