GERALDO BLAMES THE HOODIE
Television personality Geraldo Rivera is known for saying and doing some bizarre things over the course of his career. But his latest gaffe must be at the top of the list.
For some unknown reason, Rivera provoked outrage on Friday when he said that slain teenager Trayvon Martin was partially responsible for his own death because he chose to wear a hoodie. HUH???
Speaking on Friday’s “Fox and Friends,” Rivera said, “I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was.” Seriously, Geraldo?? So if you would blame Trayvon for his own death because he was wearing a hoodie, would you also blame a woman for being raped because she was wearing a mini skirt???
Perhaps realizing the power of his words, Rivera later backpedaled, saying he wasn’t “blaming the victim” but calling it “common sense” for minorities to avoid wearing hoodies. Still, he maintained that Martin’s hoodie was to blame for his death and that he was “reminding minority parents of the risk that comes with being a kid of color in America.” Yeah, right!
Needless to say, a firestorm of criticism took over Facebook and Twitter to denounce Geraldo’s words. Rivera later weighed in on Twitter, saying even his son disagreed with him. “My own son just wrote to say he’s ashamed of my position re hoodies,” he tweeted. Well at least there’s one smart Rivera in the family!
When I first heard about this Friday afternoon I immediately thought to myself…"is Geraldo crazy?"Then I experienced something on Saturday morning that gave me a "CHECK YOURSELF" moment.I had gone downtown to a Black-owned clothing store to be measured for my new choir robe. There happened to be several neatly groomed, well-dressed Black men also shopping in the store while I was there. They were all around me. A few of them even struck up small chat with me. At NO time did I ever feel threatened by their presence in the least.Fast forward: I left the store and headed back to my car about a half block away. I looked around and there was no one else walking by. It began to ran lightly. Thankfully I had my umbrella. I felt at ease. Then SUDDENLYy, without a warning I felt someone approaching over my right shoulder. Just as i turned to look, he walked passed me. He was a young black man (early… Read more »