Is this Trayvon Martin column in the Washington Post racist?

Longtime columnist Richard Cohen says George Zimmerman "understandably suspected" a black teen in a hoodie was up to no good

Trayvon Martin's hoodie as evidence
(Image credit: Jacob Langston-Pool/Getty Images)

Longtime Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen argued Tuesday that George Zimmerman was justified in suspecting Trayvon Martin of being a criminal because Martin was black and wearing a hoodie.

Calling it an "Orwellian exercise in political correctness" to pretend blacks are not more likely than whites to commit violent crimes, Cohen wrote that Zimmerman's assumption was not rooted in racism, but rather in hard evidence.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.