The Hoodie has become part of a stereotype.

On Feb. 26^th, the body of Trayvon Martin, an African-American was found in Miami, FL. George Zimmerman, the captain of a local crime watch organization turned out to be the culprit. He confessed to shooting Trayvon Martin because the youth was wearing a hoodie. Zimmerman also mentioned self-defense and was let go due to lack of evidence against his claim. The case did not get much attention at first and was quickly forgotten – except by Martin's community and attorney Geraldo Rivera. Today, March 23^rd, thousands of people marched in protest and to pay tribute to Martin through New York city.

Even though this is a tragedy, there is not much the police could have done to incarcerate Zimmerman. Every policeman will tell you that they have to follow a certain guideline and that nothing can be done without evidence. The case can easily be interpreted as racial issue: a white man shoots a black teen and gets away with it – because the police does not care or even worse, because the police is on his side. Again, regardless of the ethnicity of the victim or of the aggressor, the police cannot do anything without evidence.

There is still a legitimate thing to protest about: the hoodie. Why do youth wear hoodies? They are fashionable, they are a thing that define their generation and they are comfortable. Other youth wear hoodies too – so by association, everyone can get 'street cred' by wearing one. Actually, it is hard to find anything else in a clothing store. The main issue with hoodies is that many teens use the hood to conceal their faces – which becomes problematic if there is a criminal intent. The hoodie is not the problem because a criminal would find another way to hide.

The real issue is the stigma associated with the hoodie. When all teens look alike in their large hoodie and sagging pants, it is easy for other citizens to associate their behavior with gang-related activities, even if this is not the case because this is the stereotype we get and we tend to judge according to appearances. Part of growing up is to learn how to get away from negative role models and convey the right message to society about oneself, and part of evolving as a culture is to stop judging people on their appearance.