That was a common reaction Friday on the Web and elsewhere to Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera’s comments that the hoodie was as much to blame for Trayvon Martin’s death as the shooter.“Geraldo Rivera of Fox News has lost his mind. He's saying #Trayvon Martin wearing a hoodie helped cause his own death?” CNN commentator Roland Martin, who is black, tweeted.“Hey Geraldo, Black kids have gotten shot not wearing hoodies. Dude, that's just dumb.”Rivera stirred up a firestorm when he said on Friday’s “Fox & Friends” that the black Florida teen might not be dead had he not worn a hoodie the night he was shot by a community watch volunteer George Zimmerman.“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,” Rivera said.“

I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was.”He added: "You have to recognize that this whole stylizing yourself as a gangsta, you’re going to be a gangsta-wannabe, well people are going to perceive you as a menace."The outspoken “Geraldo at Large” host, who is Latino, expressed similar sentiments in a column Friday titled, “Trayvon Martin Would Be Alive but for His Hoodie.”Geraldo Rivera's comments on hoodies and Trayvon Martin riled many Twitter users.Reaction to his comments was fast and furious."i didn't even know geraldo still did stuff ppl listened to. damned if i listen to him now. but #BEATEMDOWNhoodies ARE on sale for $25," media personality Bomani Jones tweeted."Dear Geraldo Rivera: I'll use small words so you can follow me, okay? Hoodies don't kill people. Paranoid racists with guns kill people," tweeted Wil Wheatonof Los Angeles.Obama: 'If Ihad a son, he'd look like Trayvon'“That's like saying Martin should not have left the house while being Black.

As the Million Hoodie marches emphasize, there is nothing inherently devious about hoodies. It's our culture's racist stereotype for "suspicion" that makes hoodies worn by people of color -- not soccer moms or Anderson Cooper --  an act that could be met with violence,” journalist Kristen Gwynne wrote on AlterNet.In Miami, students from more than a dozen schools staged a walkout to protest the lack of an arrest in the shooting of a black Florida teen. baby milo hoodie ebayNBC's Ron Allen reports. toothless hoodie for sale cheap, Alex Seitz-Wald posted a photo purportedly showing Rivera wearing a hooded jacket while covering a story during a storm.“odesza hoodieRivera’s comments suggesting that Martin’s attire was responsible for his death are offensive and repugnant. feu hoodie price

One of the reasons Martin may have been wearing a hood is that it was raining on the day he was shot. As Rivera himself has experienced, a hood can be helpful in a rainstorm,” Seitz-Wald wrote.American Apparel, the clothing manufacturer whose hoodies are popular with teens, said it was "appalled" by Rivera's comments. "To Geraldo Rivera we say this: American Apparel sells millions of hoodies each year in every color you can imagine, to every type of person you can imagine—pink hoodies to toddlers, black and navy hoodies to businessmen and successful entrepreneurs, as well as plenty of college students of all backgrounds and everyone else in between. We even sell hoodies for dogs. To say that this classic garment implies that its owner is a dangerous criminal to be 'feared' is absolutely ridiculous. We're incredibly sorry about the young man who was shot while wearing one, and feel very strongly that oversimplifying the discussion by criticizing the victim's clothing does the country, Trayvon Martin, and all those who support the end of crimes such as this one a massive and dangerous disservice."

examined the issue of black youth and hoodies in a story published Thursday. ’s US News Facebook page, the topic made for spirited, sometimes heated discussion.Wrote one Facebook user, Scherika Foster: Perceiving black teens who wear hoodies as dangerous is ignorant. Hoodies and/or baggy pants don't make young black males any more dangerous than heels and a fitting dress makes a woman a whore. This type of stereotyping is nonsense and keeps us divided. I've SEEN news clips where grown white men have committed bank robberies, bombings, rapes, and other such crimes wearing hoodies, but because of their skin tone no one perceived them as dangerous prior to their offense. It's not the clothes, it's the skin color...racism still exists. You can read more comments here and here.  on Twitter and FacebookGeraldo Rivera stopped by Fox & Friends Friday morning, where he gave his take on the Trayvon Martin shooting — particularly on the hoodie the teen was wearing the night he was shot.

“I believe,” he shared, “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.” When you see a kid walking down the street, particularly 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 what’s the instant identification, what’s the instant association? It’s those crime scene surveillance tapes. Every time you see someone stickin’ up a 7-11, the kid’s 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 wanna? Well, people are going to perceive you as a menace. It is an instant reflexive action. Remember Juan Williams, our colleague? He got in trouble with NPR because he said Muslims in formal garb at the airport conjure a certain response in him. That’s an automatic reflex; Juan wasn’t defending it. He was explaining that’s what happened 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, you know God bless him, he was an innocent kid, a wonderful kid, a box of Skittles in his hands. He didn’t deserve to die. But I’ll bet you money, if he didn’t have that hoodie on, that nutty neighborhood watch guy wouldn’t have responded in that violent and aggressive way. He also urged those participating in the “Million Hoodie March” for Martin to “leave the hoodie at home,” adding that they cannot hope to “rehabilitate” the clothing item’s image.