Instead of taking up everyone’s time with their theatrical performance this week, the Supreme Court justices could do something useful and get their fine clerks to start a thread on the SCOTUS blog or Volokh to consider when a hoodie might be a hat. Illinois Democrat Bobby Rush (who defeated President Obama 2-1 in the 2000 Democratic primary for his House district) was ruled out of order this week by Mississippi Republican Gregg Harper for wearing a gray sweatshirt.
Here is the text of Clause 5 of Rule 17:
Comportment 5. … During the session of the House, a Member … may not wear a hat …. The Sergeant-at-Arms is charged with the strict enforcement of this clause.
Was Harper correct? Perhaps a hoodie is a hat in “the wealthier portions of the state capital, Jackson, along with most of that city’s suburbs,” which Harper represents, but it wouldn’t qualify under the rules of baseball. Rule 7.05(a), for example, stipulates:
(a) To home base, scoring a run, if a fair ball goes out of the playing field in flight and he touched all bases legally; or if a fair ball which, in the umpires judgment, would have gone out of the playing field in flight, is deflected by the act of a fielder in throwing his glove, cap, or any article of his apparel;
How could one throw the hood of a hoodie? It is not a cap. Then again, not all hats are caps.
Back on the strict side, Emily Heil in the WaPo speculates that Jim Traficante’s toupee might have been in violation. She notes that Democratic Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson has been unsuccessful in her efforts to wear “signature chapeaus in the chamber.”
What about a yarmulke?
Christopher says
…if you assume as I do that the context is that gentlemen by traditional etiquette keep their heads uncovered indoors, especially in respectable places like the hallowed halls of Congress. Mr. Rush put the hood up and thus covered his head. I do also hope and assume that religious traditions would be accomodated for a Jewish member to be able to wear a yarmulke. In this case, I think I would have looked the other way if I were presiding. Clearly, Mr. Rush was using the hoodie as a prop to make a point and props are allowed on the floor of the House.
John Tehan says
The teabagger rep from Florida really showed his intellectual heft explaining why Rep. Rush had to be removed from the podium – via DailyKos:
Ahh, the mythical power of the hoodie – it instantly transforms anyone into a suspicious looking individual, even a well-recognized Congressman!
SomervilleTom says
I know you’re joking, but the “mythical power of the hoodie” isn’t, in this case, mythical at all.
Allen West is using the Laura Ingraham show to reassure his supporters that his racism remains un-moved (or perhaps strengthened) by the murder of Trayvon Martin. While civilized people recognize that tragedies like this are unacceptable, right wing Tea Party supporters instead see this as a validation of the “stand your ground” law. Sadly, all too many civilized people prefer to remain silent rather than be perceived as strident. The boat ride seems smoother when it isn’t rocking (so long as you’re not downstairs working the oars).
We make a serious mistake if we assume that these right wing elements share our values underneath their bluster. They do not. The racist intent of this Florida law, like the similarly racist “Voter ID” proposals pushed by the same crowd, is intentional and widespread — especially in the south. We need to understand that this crowd sees the Trayvon Martin killing as a demonstration that laws like this work. A young black man was walking at night in a gated white community. He was shot and killed. His killer will not be prosecuted for his death. The “
kill the ni**ersstand your ground” law worked.Bobby Rush knew this when he performed his theatrics — it is the point, after all. Allen West is confirming his racist Tea Party creds.
A Democratic Party with an incumbent black man running for re-election is not likely to call out the racism that motivates all this (although I thought his comments about Trayvon Martin were perfect and again demonstrated Barack Obama’s mastery of Jedi political chess). A mainstream media dependent on revenue derived from marketing to a racist white (and Hispanic) audience is not likely to call out this racism.
It is left to us to speak out against the ugly racism that all this (together with its coverage) represents. If we don’t, then the voices of the black community continue to be nothing more than the lonely wail of powerless victims continually abused by a disinterested and racist culture.
Bob Neer says
What is the evidence that the “stand your ground” law in Florida is racist?
SomervilleTom says
I grew up in a MD suburb of Washington DC. My family of origin is from the deep south.
The most obvious demonstration is the facts of the Trayvon Martin case.
Let me pose a question: if a clean-cut white teenager was similarly killed in a black ghetto of, say, Jacksonville by an identified black male, do you think the shooter would have been treated the same?
I don’t. When the hand-waving and circumlocution is over, that difference is why laws like this are racist.
stomv says
whenever a white person is shot, the NRA seems to stick their heads up and proclaim that if only that person was armed, he or she could have protected him or herself. Yet, they never seem to encourage more armed black young men to have guns for protection.
Given that the NRA is a major proponent for these guns-as-ahem-defense laws, the connection seems a tad bit relevant.
Christopher says
How, exactly, can Allen West, and African American, be racist against fellow African-Americans, or did I misunderstand you?
SomervilleTom says
See Clarence Thomas.
SomervilleTom says
Let me offer a less-flippant response … and I stand by my “Uncle Tom” comment.
Allen West is a Republican, and he is running in the Florida 18th Congressional District. I invite your attention to the Florida 18th CD demographics:
Ask yourself where Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman fit into that picture, ask yourself what the politics of this district have been, and I suspect you’ll come to the same conclusion as me.
johnd says
that proves that the black Congressman, Allen West, is a racist?
Reminder… Racist – the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, esp. so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.
SomervilleTom says
His actions, combined with the demographics, persuade me that his actions were racist. Like Clarence Thomas, his personal beliefs are immaterial when he demonstrates his willingness to perpetuate and strengthen the racist stereotypes that lead to the murder of Trayvon Martin and so many young men like him.
Christopher says
…but it would certainly be nice if it weren’t this way. I don’t think calling someone an Uncle Tom helps the interracial dialogue, however.
John Tehan says
…doesn’t help the interracial dialogue!
johnd says
We need all parties to be heard from including those who call Allen West names. Why do liberals have such a big problem with conservatives blacks? Why does race have to enter every argument? If you are against welfare abuse, why do so many people accuse you of being a racist? Does waste have a race?
SomervilleTom says
I don’t know about “every argument”. Race entered this argument because Trayvon Martin was shot and killed because he was black. Do you really think that George Zimmerman would have shot and killed a white 17 year old walking through this gated Florida community? If George Zimmerman had shot a white 17 year old in this community, do you really think he would have escaped arrest?
Allen West chose to involve himself in this way in this argument about race. He involved himself in a way that panders to the racist electorate that comprises the district he is running in. The law is racist, the way the law was enforced is racist, and the stereotypes that Allen West reinforces are racist. I think a better question is why conservatives are so reluctant to address the racism that underlies so many of their policies — like this one.
SomervilleTom says
Is there a better phrase to describe Mr. West? He’s selling out the interests of African-Americans in order to advance his own political career in an overwhelmingly non-black conservative district. Isn’t that pretty much the canonical definition of “Uncle Tom”?
That’s just a fact, Christopher, and I think it’s long past time we start talking about those kinds of facts.