Quick, nighttime runs to the store — like the trip Florida teen Trayvon Martin, 17, took on Feb. 26 — are a frequent occurrence for many college students, but few worry that they could be killed during the trip.

Since that night, the case has become a media firestorm and caused public outcry. The Change.org petition to arrest George Zimmerman, the self-appointed neighborhood
watch captain who shot Martin in what he alleges was self defense, has surpassed 1.5 million signatures — the fastest-growing petition in the website’s history — and everyone
from celebrities to former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm have taken to social media to post photos of themselves wearing hoodies in support of Martin.

Martin’s tragic death is an important reminder that despite the great strides of the past 50 years, racism is still very much alive and well in the U.S.

Whether examining the handling of the case itself, which is at best a careless investigation
and at worst symptomatic of the same racism that led to an unarmed black teenager wearing a hoodie and carrying Skittles to be equated to a dangerous criminal, or the media responses, it is clear that we need to revisit the issue of racism in the U.S.

On Friday’s episode of “Fox and Friends,” TV personality Geraldo Rivera made a series of comments about the case that display the sort of casual racism many of us pretend no longer exists.

“I am urging the parents of black and Latino youngsters particularly not to let their children go out wearing hoodies,” he said on-air. “I think the hoodie is as much responsible
for Trayvon Martin’s death as much as George Zimmerman was.”

Rivera’s comments are a reflection of one of the most common racist stereotypes that pervades our culture — that a black or Latino person in a hoodie is dangerous, but a white person in a hoodie is OK.

The conversation would be different if the story was different — say, if there was some indication that Martin was armed, or if he was wearing an article of clothing symbolizing
gang activity. But when it’s boiled down, this was a 17-year-old boy who ran to the store to buy candy during the NBA All-Star Game halftime show and was gunned down on his walk home, likely because of the color of his skin.