In the news this week there was yet another story of a man in a ball cap robbing a bank.  Link, with photo:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/06/robber-with-scruffy-beard-and-baseball-cap-robs-three-banks-.html

Ever notice how many bank robberies are committed by people wearing ball caps?  It's gotten so bad that that some banks have notices on the door forbidding the wearing of ball caps inside.  There have even been nicknames given to robbers based on their choice of attire, such as "the Ball Cap Bandit" and the "Baseball Cap Bandit". 

http://www.thedailytimes.com/Local_News/story/Billboard-helps-capture-Ball-Cap-Bandit-id-019829

http://ktar.com/?nid=123&sid=727814

Plug in "ball cap" and "robber" into google and the number of hits is staggering. Clearly, the clothing of choice in most robberies and crimes, even in suburban areas, is the ball cap.  Yet there seems to be no stigma against suburban males wearing ball caps, as there is against the wearing of hoodies.  The double standard makes no sense; if it can be claimed that the sight of someone in a hoodie is alarming because they might be out to commit a crime, the same can be said for a ball cap.  The sheer number of google hits linking to police blotter stories of criminals in ball caps demonstrate that many people wearing these caps are up to no good.  Yet people allow their kids to walk around on the streets dressed like - well, thugs in ball caps, and even elderly men choose to dress in this "thugwear".  Instead of stigmatizing these caps, many people collect them, display them on racks like trophies, and wear them out and about proudly.

If a white male in a ball cap is killed some day while walking through a gated community, will there be the same amount of support for his slaying as there was for the Trayvon Martin slaying?  Now what if he wear wearing a hoodie, instead? Will people point to his attire as evidence that he was up to no good? After all, one could say that he, too, chose to dress "like a thug" in either situation, right?  Or do men in ball caps OR hoodies get free passes depending upon their race?