Geraldo: My Own Son Is 'Ashamed' Of My Hoodie Quote

[kpete]

Geraldo: My Own Son Is 'Ashamed' Of My Hoodie Quote

How bad is the backlash against Geraldo Rivera for blaming Trayvon Martin's shooting death on his choice of clothing? His own son is piling on.

"My own son just wrote to say he's ashamed of my position re hoodies [sic]," Rivera tweeted on Friday. "Still I feel parents must do whatever they can to keep their kids safe."

.............................

"It's not blaming the victim Its common sense-look like a gangsta&some armed schmuck will take you at your word," he added.

On FOX News the same morning, Rivera said: “I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was.”

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/geraldo-my-own-son-is-ashamed-of-my
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/03/geraldo_rivera_blames_trayvon_martins_death_on_his.php

[Robb]

1. Good for the kid. Fuck Geraldo.

It's blaming the victim. And it's reprehensible.

[Ian David]

2. If Geraldo is mistaken for a pedophile and shot, will we blame his mustache? n/t

[Wait Wut]

5. DING!!!

That's exactly what I was going to post!

You never hear this guy's name mentioned anymore unless something stupid falls out of his mouth. I think he's personally responsible for the beginning of the downfall of real journalism.

[fascisthunter]

57. LOL!!!!!

ok, that almost made me squirt coffee out of my mouth.

I thought he was a just a John Hall and Oats fan...

[polichick]

3. "the hoodie is as much responsible"??? The hoodie pulled the trigger?

[gratuitous]

4. "It's not blaming the victim"

All appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, eh Jerry? You're saying that Martin was just asking for it, the way he was dressed. Where have I heard that sentiment before? Think, think.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

6. The son gets it.

Lot's of young people wear hoodies. It doesn't make them targets.

Geraldo is out of touch with American youth, and he was blaming the victim.

[MineralMan]

7. I have trouble telling Geraldo and Borat apart.

Can't imagine why...

[CreekDog]

37. one of them is a comedian

the other a joke.

[MineralMan]

40. Ah...it is clear to me now.

[yardwork]

8. wtf? Geraldo has outdone himself this time.

I have no words to express my disgust that somebody actually said that the "hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin's death as George Zimmerman was."

[WhollyHeretic]

9. So a hoodie is "gangsta"? I guess I'm married to a "gangsta" librarian because my wife wears hoodies

all the time.

[tanyev]

35. Oh, you've got to watch out for the gangsta librarians.

They're the worst of all.



(I work at a library, too. )

[auburngrad82]

10. My wife and I both wear our hoodies when it's cool

and we love them.

Hoodies aren't any more "gangsta" than jeans are "cowboy".

[savalez]

11. Fox News: Talk first, think later.

[otohara]

12. I Had A Similar Conversation w/ My Son

he and some friends went to the jungle and all got lice.

He shaved his head to get rid of the lice and then kept doing it until I had the conversation with him.

He looked scary - intimidating and I told him so. If I saw him on a lonely street at night, I'd cross the street and would feel fearful. I asked, why would you want people to fear you? He stopped shaving his head to my delight.

He was walking up and down our street, listening to music wearing his hoodie, with one side hooked over his ear and someone called the police. My hubby predicted this would happen and it did.

He's mixed blood and could be taken for Hispanic, Arabic or Asian.

It's scary out there - I want my son to live a long life.

[murielm99]

19. You are the only one in this thread who is trying to look at this from both sides.

Good for you.

[otohara]

32. Doesn't Seem To Make Much Difference

mob mentality - grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[murielm99]

45. My kids are about as white as they come.

When they were going to school in our small rural community, there was a push by the school board for stricter dress standards. My children went to a school board meeting and addressed the school board members about freedom of expression. I went with them for support, but kept my mouth shut.

Over the next couple of years, my two older kids were accepted into our state's math and science academy. They left home at fourteen and fifteen to attend that school. That is scary enough for any parent, but the nearby area was very gang-infested. All the students were cautioned not to wear certain colors, not to wear their clothes or tie their shoes in certain ways when they left campus. It might be the gang-bangers, or it might be the cops who could put them in very serious danger if they were not careful how they dressed.

I am sorry there are so many stereotypes. It is sad that we can't dress as we please. I have a couple of hoodies myself.

The world is a complicated and hateful place. The best we can do is to pay attention and try to keep our children and ourselves safe. I don't care if I am going against the group think here or not. I weep for Trayvon. I have a son.

[JonLP24]

38. I don't know

I think others is looking at the other side and concluding it is absurd the hoodie has an ounce of responsibility for what happened. My mom has a hoodie, every school I ever attended sold hoodies with the school name & logo on it, I've worn them every winter without incident.

If you have to fear someone, fear everyone. Looks can be deceiving.

[otohara]

44. Without Guns, There'd Be No Fear of Clothes

Like in Japan - hoodies are everywhere and guns are no where.

[RobinA]

41. Thank You

I tried to make this point on another thread and wasn't too successful. People don't like reality.

I live in one of the biggest skinhead states. Attending a funeral for my uncle a couple years ago I see these two teens with shaved heads. They weren't Michael Stipe, so I'm thinking, "Who in this family has skinhead kids?" Turns out they were the teenagers of one of the coolest cousins who ever lived. I hadn't seen them since they were toddlers, they lived in another state. They are about as far from skinheads as anyone can get. I made a snap judgement based on my experience, both generational (I'm from the '70's when short hair meant uncool) and geographical. Was I wrong, yeah. Was it their FAULT I thought they were skinheads? No, it was mine. But if ya don't want to be taken for a skinhead, don't shave the head. In this state, anyway. If you don't care, shave away. These days they have nice long hair. Cool.

[JonLP24]

48. I'm not sure what the not liking reality

has to do in the context of the hoodie comment. A very large number of people wear hoodies and so does Geraldo. Post #43 is reality based, IMO. Hoodie had little to nothing to do with this.

[butterfly77]

13. I just heard a black cop...

on ed schultz saying he agrees with Geraldo, he was talking about black communities in New York and that he sees it all day long. I say he is full of shit..

[malaise]

14. That's the thinking that blames women for being raped

because of their clothing - fuck Geraldo

[Initech]

15. Good - I'm tired of the blame everything but the guns crowd.

[mercuryblues]

16. I wear

hoodies to my son's baseball games. It gets a little chilly at night. So I guess If someone shoots me I deserve it because of my choice in clothing. The concession stand even sells those dangerous weapons, AKA Skittles.

[barbtries]

17. really.

as i recall it was raining. after that last quote, his son probably wants to change his name. jerk.

[ohheckyeah]

18. I wear hoodies.

Does that make me game for being shot?

[pokerfan]

20. Geraldo is quadrupling down on his hoodie remark

Its not blaming the victim Its common sense-look like a gangsta&some armed schmuck will take you at your word
2h ? @GeraldoRivera

My own son just wrote to say he's ashamed of my position re hoodies-still I feel parents must do whatever they can to keep their kids safe
2h ? @GeraldoRivera

Justice will come to Zimmerman the Fla shooter-but I'm trying to save lives like Trayvon's-Parents Alert: hoodies can get your kid killed
18h ? @GeraldoRivera

His hoodie killed Trayvon Martin as surely as George Zimmerman.
19h ? @GeraldoRivera

Trayvon killed by a jerk w a gun but black & Latino parents have to drill into kids heads: a hoodie is like a sign: shoot or stop & frisk me
22 Mar ? @GeraldoRivera

[SolutionisSolidarity]

53. He keeps climbing out of the hole then jumping back in again.

His first tweet is ridiculous. Everyone wears hoodies; only a bigot would jump to gansta on that basis alone. He back-pedals by claiming he's just trying to look out for children's lives, then says the worst thing yet in giving the murderer and his victim an equal share of the blame. I get the point he's trying to make. It's a bad idea to look like a criminal, no matter how hard that image is marketed toward you. But the bar for looking like a criminal really ought to be a bit higher then wearing a sweater with a hood on it, even if you are a young black male.

[Incitatus]

21. Zimmerman would have followed him anyway because he was black. nt

[NOLALady]

43. How true.

We didn't wear hoodies.

We dressed just like the "privileged" kids. It didn't do a damn thing to stop the frisk and search, profiling and harassing of black youth. They did everything possible to remind us to stay in our place.

I call Bullshit on the hoodie as the cause of profiling. I am a senior citizen. I love my hoodie and will not stop wearing it in order to avoid being shot. If someone decides to take me out, I hardly believe it will be because of wearing a hoodie.

[Incitatus]

22. Maybe this apple fell and rolled away from the tree.

Thank God!

[jwirr]

23. Sound very much like trying to blame a rape on the clothes the victim was wearing. I thought we

got over that idiocy. I am a 70 year old greatgrandmother - is there a difference between a hoodie and a hooded sweatshirt? We have been wearing the latter for decades.

[SomethingFishy]

25. +1 What an asshole

What happened to Geraldo? Money. He used to be pretty cool, way back when he was a journalist. Then he got famous and rich and turned into O'Reilly lite.

[bart95]

24. this just in-Capone's vault is still empty nt

[deutsey]

29. LOL...I was just about to write:

Geraldo should stick to trying to locate Capone's hidden fortune...he might find his credibility there as well.

[RebelOne]

26. I wear hoodies and I am a 73-year-old white blonde female.

I doubt very much that I would be mistaken for a gangster.

[dana_b]

28. I wear them too

and I am a middle aged woman. Blaming clothing in this case is like Dan White blaming Twinkies.

[deutsey]

30. GANGSTA!!!!

[Aerows]

56. I'm a 30-something blonde white female

If someone mistakes me for a gangster because I wear a hoodie they need to get their eyes checked or their head examined.

[dana_b]

27. really, Geraldo?

Your son is more tolerant and bright than you - admit it.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

31. He just had to insert himself into the story somehow. What a

fucking egomaniac molester 'stache sporting douche.

[Shampoobra]

33. I'm a middle-age white man and I wear a hoodie just about every day. Why?

Because I live in a windy, rainy climate, but a thick hood from a winter jacket gives my hair something resembling bed-head (while the hoodie does not).

When I'm wearing it, no one ever looks at me as if I'm some sort of menace. Why? Because I'm a middle-age white man.

So in response to Geraldo's warning to parents regarding how their children dress, I have to question how much progress we as a country have made in the area of racial equality, when I get to wear the same kind of hood, with impunity, that could get a young black man shot.

[JI7]

34. so over 75 percent of school kids are just asking to be shot

or does this only apply to black kids ?

i said before that this whole thing is reminding me of those who blame the woman for rape by bringing up what she was wearing, asking why she went out alone etc.

[IggleDoer]

36. Should we blame the manufacturers of hoodies?

Most of our clothing is made in China.

Therefore we should go to war with China.

Or,... using the logic of the Bush administration, maybe we should go to war with Bolivia.

[CreekDog]

39. the problem is that without the hoodie, the kid was harassed

and with secret service agents not getting served at Denny's

with Barack Obama not considered an American...

when a black professional dressed in business attire will still get stopped for DWB...

the hoodie makes no difference. yes, if they see the hoodie, it will reinforce their stereotypes and if they don't see a hoodie, they will still hold to the stereotypes.

this stuff has got to stop.

[butterfly77]

42. What did Shaun Slannity say...``

I heard that he said something utterly ridiculous,as always.

[vankuria]

46. So if Trayvon wasn't wearing a hoodie

he'd still be alive? I don't care what this kid was wearing, this so called "neighborhood watch captain" was out to get anyone he deemed suspicious (ie., anyone with dark skin). Nothing could have saved Trayvon from this Barney Fife wannabe, trigger happy, loser, imbecile, moran.

[Hatchling]

47. He should be ashamed!

I'm a sixty year old, gray haired, white woman who wears hoodies all the time. They are a comfortable, versitle garment, especially in warm states where it's hot during the day and cools off in the evening.

I can gurantee you no one whould shoot me walking home from the 7-11 with skittles and an ice tea.

[surrealAmerican]

49. He was probably also wearing pants.

Shouldn't we be warning our children never to be seen in public with pants on?


This is just silly: almost everybody I know, from infants to old people, has a "hoodie" of some sort. They are hardly a sign of gang affiliation.

[DesertRat]

50. Geraldo in a hoodie

http://geraldoinahoodie.tumblr.com/

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

51. I used to think Heraldo made sense when he was young

In his early days he seemed a lot more liberal. He got into a violent confrontation with white supremacists on his show and got his nose broken. In the last few years, however, he seems to have turned into an aging conservative crank who doesn't remember what it was like to be young. I don't know what happened. Maybe the Al Capone vault fiasco destroyed his mind.

?w=300&h=248

[daleo]

54. Most decent paying "pundit" openings are in corporate media

So, the "pundits" obligingly lean right, to conform with the overall class interests of the corporation, which tend to be conservative (i.e. the top one percent of the income distribution). They are paid to transmit the message the corporations want them to transmit. Geraldo's ideological evolution is an example of this.

[LynneSin]

52. Wow, someone should have shot me down in cold blood a few decades ago

I love my Eagles Hoodie

- for the cold blood thing.

[Patsy Stone]

55. Does Geraldo see the same problems with this?

[greytdemocrat]

58. I really hope...

That Geraldo gets washed out to sea in a hurricane this summer.