Blog Post #1-Informational/Nonfiction Writing

The article Hug a Hoodie: What the U.K. Teaches Us About Making a Sweatshirt a Symbol by Tim Fernolz is an informational article about a recent incident in Florida. The article talks about many opinions public people had about this incident. A 17-year old kid called Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in Florida about a month ago. He was killed by George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin was watching basketball with his dad when halftime occurred. He decided to go out and get some snacks, he bought some iced tea and Skittles. After he bought snacks, he headed home. Just when he got outside, there was a light drizzle. Trayvon decided to put his hood on, he then hurried back home. On his way, he noticed someone following him, which was George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was the Neighborhood Watch, he suspected that Trayvon was a criminal and was possibly a dangerous target. Trayvon had his hands in his pockets and was running, which made him look like a suspicious target. Zimmerman called the police and told them about it, the police told him to stop following him. He kept following him and then a fight began, Trayvon was shot in the chest. He was not arrested or charged because he claimed that it was self-defense. He said that he attacked him first and many are still trying to find evidence and witnesses. The poor boy died only at age 17, he was almost an adult and was going to get his driver's license. Through this incident, Tim tried to persuade us that hoodies are bad for outwear and people shouldn't wear them outside, especially when you have your hands in your pockets.

Tim tried to persuade us that wearing hoodies are bad for outwear and people shouldn't wear them outside and have their hands in their pockets. He is trying to tell us that wearing hoods can make you look very suspicious and make others think differently about you. Like Trayvon, Zimmerman thought he was a criminal but he was really a nice and innocent African American boy. For example, Rivera said on his show Friday. “I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was.” I think that this means that the hoodie was the primary cause of his death, the hoodie was just as responsible as Zimmerman killing Trayvon. The hoodie was the main reason why Zimmerman had his suspicions on him. Tim was trying to tell us the results of wearing a hoodie while walking down the street, it could mean your life. Another example that Tim tried to persuade us was "Some British observers blame the United States for “hoodie” culture, saying it originated in hip-hop and captures the medium’s defiant posture." Tim is trying to persuade us that hoodie culture created what we have today. It's our fault that we shaped our culture like that and that's why hoodies are bad. Another example is a quote from Rivera, “I am urging the parents of black and Latino youngsters, particularly, to not let their young children go out wearing hoodies,” Rivera said. Because there are a lot of racism these days against Latinos and blacks, wearing hoodies would give off a lot of suspicion to the community. Especially since there are black, many people have different stereotypes on each race.

My response to this article is that I am shocked. Even though slavery ended hundreds of years ago, there is still racism and stereotypes against blacks. Blacks are still treated unfairly, and just because they have a hood on, people suspect them of thievery and that they are a criminal. I am always thinking how different people get treated differently because of different characteristics we have. There are always stereotypes against each other, but after all we're all human. We are the same species and the same race so why should we harm each other and harass each other? Shooting people for no good reason is bad, there was some kind of racist issue involved. Zimmerman was white and Trayvon was black, Zimmerman suspected him because he was black. People are constantly judging a book by its own cover, just like they judge people. This article helped people and realize what the problem is and why people shouldn't wear hoodies, because people can easily judge you and can possibly do harm to you.