Notes

Slander Hoodies
Hoodies are a symbol of youth culture and urban style, but they've been linked with the hard-edged crime. Originally worn by laborers and athletes and laborers, they took on an increasingly gritty and iconoclastic design in the Nineties, gaining popularity in skater and rap culture.


Trayvon Martin's murder of George Zimmerman made the hoodie an important symbol of Black criminalization. The hoodie was a symbol for resistance and political protest against white supremacy and racism through this story (Hurtado (2018)


The Trayvon Martin Story


The time 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was killed and shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, the media concentrated on a range of different narratives. Slander T-shirts focused on Trayvon's innocence (as both the victim and a minor) as well as George's presumed guilt, and the shooting suspect's whiteness dispute.


These stories didn't convey the complexity of the matter as well as its significance for American race relations. They were used to perpetuate myths that black people are being victimized by white racists and that whites have a right to defend themselves against unarmed African people.


Martin's death was the first high-profile, high-profile shooting in America by a black person. It also spurred an ongoing debate in the United States about laws governing gun control. It also triggered the creation of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has since become a major political movement that has had a national impact on our nation's politics. It also was the catalyst for Stand Your Ground laws, that have shaped the current situation of American police policies.


The Hoodie as a Place of Criminalization


The hoodie has become a universal symbol that has become synonymous with various social significances depending on the wearer and their connection to power. For privileged wearers they are seen as an unremarkable, comfortable, and neutral garment which do not carry any particular social stigma (Turney 2019).


However, in an oppressive system that discriminates against Black young people the hoodie is a site of criminalization and victim-blame that is often used to attack young Black bodies such as Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.


Martin and Brown Martin, both with hooded black bodies, are now viewed as 'threats' because they were young and Black while wearing hoodies in a white, wealthy neighborhood.


While hoodies have been a popular fashion accessory since the 1970s, hip hop scholars and race scholars have claimed that they first were employed to hide identity. For graffiti artists, hoodies served to disguise themselves. The hoodie became a symbol for protest and defiance, becoming an emblem of youth culture in 1990s.



The Hoodie as a Symbol of Resistance


Hoodies, which is a kind of sweatshirt that features an attached hood. They are used for a variety of reasons. Hoodies can be used to protect wearers from rain and sun, as well as providing anonymity in public spaces due to their cover-up design.


Hoodies have always been a common element of youth culture especially during the gangsta-rap era. Rappers such as Wu-Tang Clan or LL Cool J were the ones to make them famous.


They're now a popular fashion item for college and high school students. They are also worn during graduation ceremonies to show their school spirit.


Hoodies are frequently associated with negative associations They can also serve as a symbol of resistance to oppressive system of racial profiling as well as anti-Black racism. Trayvon Martin's decision to wear an hoodie while in public in the face of the social norm of the hoodie as an unconstitutional and potentially dangerous symbol (Eliott & Reid 2019, 2019; Bey, 2016).


The Hoodie Defense


The hoodie was re-conceptualized in 2015 as a symbol of the active opposition to injustices against racial groups. This new interpretation doesn't change the fact that Martin was a victim of a angered and racist George Zimmerman.


Zimmerman and the media used Martin's hoodie to denigrate Martin's image (Graeff and. and. 2014; Hurtado (2018)). This personalization was a reflection of the ongoing racist and white supremacist creation of Black youth as inherently violent, deviant, and devoid of empathy and sympathy.


Thus, 'hoodie defences' were created as an attempt to disavow George Zimmerman of his racist motives and the harm he did to Martin (Eliott & Reid 2019; Nguyen, 2015). The "hoodie defense", in other words, is an approach to discourse that criminalizes and dehumanizes Black youngsters who live in an oppressive system (Bey (2016); Aprahamian, 2019). It can be reconstructed as a symbol of resistance and to raise awareness of the issue of racism as well as to create a social movement to reduce racial inequalities.

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