He Could Become Trayvon Martin

The other day I dropped Zach off at school. Heading in was a black classmate wearing a hoodie with the hood up (he's 2-3). His name is Cole and he's a great kid. He's also a kid Zach talks about playing with sometimes. The first time Zach cried for me not to leave Cole was watching. He didn't want to play with a cry baby (ironically, on Wednesday he was the one crying at drop off). Cole's grandma picks him up and drops him off and he was in the class when Zach saw it back in September.

He is a peaceful kid. The kind of kid who would walk to get some iced tea and candy from a nearby store (and pay for them) with a hoodie on as a teenager. Hoodies are everywhere and for kids and teens there aren't many non-hoodie options.

A hood up on a hoodie, for me, isn't the intimidating part, it's the look on the face of the person wearing it. Race doesn't matter. My parent's have always taught us that the most important thing about a person is character. Stereotyping is usually wrong. A hoodie on a black kid doesn't make him dangerous, just cold.

But black kids in hoodies who look angry can be dangerous and it's hard to tell for the uneducated if they look like they are in a gang or not. Gang members are dangerous but a hoodie doesn't = gang member. The "hip hop" style of dress may make it look that someone is in a gang but that's might be wrong. Maybe they just like the look. What really makes me feel I should be cautious of someone? An angry "mad at the world" look in their eyes.

There are a lot of black dudes in prison but those are mostly due to drug or alcohol abuse crimes (or drugs and/or alcohol were in their system when the crime was commited). Not all black people use drugs or abuse alcohol. They aren't ALL criminals and it shouldn't be assumed they are or are about to be.

Cole doesn't have that look. He looks more like my High School class Co-Valedictorian. A smart kid who enjoys school. Cole is good at sharing and is clearly in a loving home. He doesn't live in an inner city and that helps. I don't know what Cole will become but I am so passionate about the Trayvon Martin story because I have met a lot of black kids of varying ages (most from Newark at Sylvan when I was a tutor) and have for years feared they would turn to those things that lead to crimes.

I also fear that what will happen to them is what happened to Trayvon Martin. Walking home, unarmed killed by a neighbor who thought he looked suspicious just because he is a black kid with a hoodie. Trayvon COULDN'T defend himself. Trayvon was a 3 year old once, just walking into preschool. Perhaps with a hoodie on. He was 17 when he was killed. This shouldn't happen ever again.