Ski Masks & Goggles Belong On Ski Slopes

[Anonymous]

On my local Cap Hill mailing list we recieved yet another press release about a robbery by a trio of youths wearing ski masks. In response, one of my neighbors mentioned that whenever he sees someone (or particularly more than one person) walking around the Hill wearing a ski mask, he calls 911.

This led to a predictable flame war as other neighbors claimed racism, saying that kids just love ski masks, and that it's nothing more than a "fashion statement".

Would you call, or not?

[Anonymous]

Yes. Capital Hill is not exactly a great area, considering the surrounds. That's not racism, it's simply fact.

[Anonymous]

How is this a political discussion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is this a political discussion?

What racial politics isn't politics?

[Anonymous]

Where I grew up, most children wore ski masks if it was cold and windy. None of us were criminals.

[Anonymous]

It's just not that cold.

[Anonymous]

Almost no kids in DC wear ski masks because they're goingot commit violent crimes. Most kids in DC wear ski masks because they think it's cool. And the kids think it's cool because their cultural heroes wear them (or write songs about them). But their cultural heroes wear them because they're part of the glorification of the criminal underclass.

So a tiny, tiny minority of kids wearing ski masks to commit crimes. A much larger majority of kids wearing ski masks because they think it's cool to dress up like criminals.

On the one hand, people should be able to wear what they like. On the other hand, if there's a crime wave going on with a bunch of youths committing armed robberies while dressed like the Hamburglar, you probably want to skip dressing like the Hamburglar.

[Anonymous]

Glad to see you have your finger on the pulse of the youth demographic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Glad to see you have your finger on the pulse of the youth demographic.

Yes, I'm sure you have a compelling counter-theory of why all the teens in my neighborhood have Lil Wayne hairdos, pants falling off their asses, and hoodies and ski masks. Nothing to do with popular culture. Such a coincidence that they've established all of the exact same cultural tropes independently of that gangster shit.

If you don't want to be mistaken for a criminal, start by not dressing like a criminal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glad to see you have your finger on the pulse of the youth demographic.

Yes, I'm sure you have a compelling counter-theory of why all the teens in my neighborhood have Lil Wayne hairdos, pants falling off their asses, and hoodies and ski masks. Nothing to do with popular culture. Such a coincidence that they've established all of the exact same cultural tropes independently of that gangster shit.

If you don't want to be mistaken for a criminal, start by not dressing like a criminal.

Lil Wayne hairdos? Seriously do you think he invented braids?

Popular culture <>criminal culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glad to see you have your finger on the pulse of the youth demographic.

Yes, I'm sure you have a compelling counter-theory of why all the teens in my neighborhood have Lil Wayne hairdos, pants falling off their asses, and hoodies and ski masks. Nothing to do with popular culture. Such a coincidence that they've established all of the exact same cultural tropes independently of that gangster shit.

If you don't want to be mistaken for a criminal, start by not dressing like a criminal.

Lil Wayne hairdos? Seriously do you think he invented braids?

Popular culture <>criminal culture.

Ah, yes I remember all the medium length Bo Derek hairdos and flat-lidded baseball caps all the youths were wearing in the 70s and 80s.

You can pretend the influences are not what they are all day long. But at the end of the day, listening to music that glorifies violence, and dressing in the exact same manner as the thugs depicted in violent popular culture is going to have repercussions.

When you carefully tailor your outfit to look like a criminal, there's a non-trivial chance you may be mistaken for a criminal. And it has absolutely nothing to do with racism and everything to do with making poor choices.

If there are numbers of people in your neighborhood dressing like the Guy Fawks character from "V for Vendetta" and you decide, "Hey I really like that movie, I'm going to dress up just like him and all these terrorists because they're cool" you're goingto catch a lot of shit. For good reason. And anyone who doesn't understand that is someone who is trying very hard not to understand it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glad to see you have your finger on the pulse of the youth demographic.

Yes, I'm sure you have a compelling counter-theory of why all the teens in my neighborhood have Lil Wayne hairdos, pants falling off their asses, and hoodies and ski masks. Nothing to do with popular culture. Such a coincidence that they've established all of the exact same cultural tropes independently of that gangster shit.

If you don't want to be mistaken for a criminal, start by not dressing like a criminal.

Lil Wayne hairdos? Seriously do you think he invented braids?

Popular culture <>criminal culture.

Ah, yes I remember all the medium length Bo Derek hairdos and flat-lidded baseball caps all the youths were wearing in the 70s and 80s.

You can pretend the influences are not what they are all day long. But at the end of the day, listening to music that glorifies violence, and dressing in the exact same manner as the thugs depicted in violent popular culture is going to have repercussions.

When you carefully tailor your outfit to look like a criminal, there's a non-trivial chance you may be mistaken for a criminal. And it has absolutely nothing to do with racism and everything to do with making poor choices.

If there are numbers of people in your neighborhood dressing like the Guy Fawks character from "V for Vendetta" and you decide, "Hey I really like that movie, I'm going to dress up just like him and all these terrorists because they're cool" you're goingto catch a lot of shit. For good reason. And anyone who doesn't understand that is someone who is trying very hard not to understand it.

OMG I saw how to braid corn rows in the early 70's on Sesame Street.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glad to see you have your finger on the pulse of the youth demographic.

Yes, I'm sure you have a compelling counter-theory of why all the teens in my neighborhood have Lil Wayne hairdos, pants falling off their asses, and hoodies and ski masks. Nothing to do with popular culture. Such a coincidence that they've established all of the exact same cultural tropes independently of that gangster shit.

If you don't want to be mistaken for a criminal, start by not dressing like a criminal.

Lil Wayne hairdos? Seriously do you think he invented braids?

Popular culture <>criminal culture.

Ah, yes I remember all the medium length Bo Derek hairdos and flat-lidded baseball caps all the youths were wearing in the 70s and 80s.

You can pretend the influences are not what they are all day long. But at the end of the day, listening to music that glorifies violence, and dressing in the exact same manner as the thugs depicted in violent popular culture is going to have repercussions.

When you carefully tailor your outfit to look like a criminal, there's a non-trivial chance you may be mistaken for a criminal. And it has absolutely nothing to do with racism and everything to do with making poor choices.

If there are numbers of people in your neighborhood dressing like the Guy Fawks character from "V for Vendetta" and you decide, "Hey I really like that movie, I'm going to dress up just like him and all these terrorists because they're cool" you're goingto catch a lot of shit. For good reason. And anyone who doesn't understand that is someone who is trying very hard not to understand it.

OMG I saw how to braid corn rows in the early 70's on Sesame Street.

Yep, totally the same thing as the pants falling off one's ass, baseball cap wearing, short braids do you see today. No difference at all.

A the President once said, "Brothers need to pull up their pants." And leave the ski masks at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is this a political discussion?

What racial politics isn't politics?

What does race have to do with wearing ski masks?

I'm really confused. Genuinely. Are you saying that it's only people of a particular race who are wearing ski masks?

[Anonymous]

The argument presented was that calling 911 when you see a group of 3 ski-mask wearing people walking down your street is a form of racist profiling. Why? Not sure, presumably because the only people wearing ski-masks and wandering around the Hill are young black kids.

And to clear up your confusion, yes, I am saying that (on Capitol Hill at least) it is only people of a particular race that are wearing ski masks.