Hoodie Remark: Geraldo Rivera Has A 32 Year Old Son Who Has Never Been Ashamed Of Him Before—Where Has HE Been?
03/24/2012
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I am amazed to hear that Geraldo Rivera has a 32 year old son who has never been ashamed of him before.

Son "Ashamed" of Geraldo's Martin Remarks

Fox News host: "I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was."

By Abby Ohlheiser | Posted Friday, March 23, 2012, at 3:49 PM ET

Geraldo Rivera says that hoodies are "as much responsible for Trayvon Martin's death as George Zimmerman was"

UPDATE: Geraldo Rivera is taking plenty of heat for suggesting that the hooded sweatshirt Trayvon Martin was wearing was partly to blame for him being shot and killed last month. Among those who've taken issue with that suggestion: Rivera's own son.

The Fox News host says that his son told him Friday that he is "ashamed" of the controversial comments he made on air Friday morning and on the network's website.

"Gabriel broke my heart," Rivera explained to Politico in an email. "He's my oldest, 32, and he just told me that for the first time in his life he's ashamed of what I wrote on [Fox News Latino]."

Still, the Fox News host says he'd not backing down from his comments. "No I don’t retract a word of it because I’m concerned with saving kids lives," he said.[More]

What Rivera, who has teenaged minority children said is that parents shouldn't let their kids dress in hoodies, i.e. like thugs:

"It’s those crime scene surveillance tapes. Every time you see someone sticking up a 7-Eleven, 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."

Hoodies are not only associated with thug culture, they're a form of disguise, since they frequently conceal the face from the surveillance camera. If you're a white kid, you can dress like that and look really stupid, but if you're a black kid, when you dress like that you look dangerous. That's because, as Geraldo says, so many kids who look like that are dangerous. (See my article on "unarmed black teenagers" today.) Geraldo is right, which I suppose means he'll lose his job, like Juan Williams.

But I am still amazed that with all the embarrassing things Geraldo has done over the years (his 1991 autobiography was titled Exposing Myself) his son claims never to have been ashamed of him—until he said something sensible.

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