Why I'll Wear a Hoodie

Like many faith communities, the Washington Ethical Society is inviting folks to wear a hoodie this Sunday to our regular 11am service. I've been following other communities making this call on Facebook, and have seen people having some of the same wonderings I had when I first thought about a show of solidarity like this. I thought I'd share my thinking a bit here.

When I first saw news anchors and public figures and little kids showing up in hoodies, I worried that we were reducing a human being--Trayvon Martin--to his article of clothing. And frankly, I thought that I, as a white woman, might look a little silly in a hoodie, as though I were pretending that I knew just what it might be like to be a young black man in America, when obviously I don't have a clue.

Then I saw the clip from Geraldo Rivera. Suddenly I got it. The hoodie wasn't about Trayvon's death so much as about the idea that America's young men of color were supposed to dress a certain way for fear of intimidating white folks. That if they didn't dress that way, then they were partially to blame for violence perpetrated against them. Just the way women are to blame for rape if their skirts are too short.

On Sunday morning, we'll talk about why we're wearing hoodies to our children, who join us for the first part of the service--and of course because some of the children are very young, we'll be cautious about our words. But in some ways, what I'll say to them feels as important as the more adult conversation we'll have later. That we're wearing hoodies because we believe that everyone deserves to be safe and protected, no matter the color of their skin and no matter what clothes they are wearing.

That's why I'll wear a hoodie on Sunday morning. I hope you join me.