Could you imagine for a minute being such an activist that you not only prevent others from having a little fun and celebrating a holiday, but also prevent the company that pays you millions from making money? I couldn’t either, but unemployed quarterback Colin Kaepernick is still the biggest killjoy in sports.
Nike, the same athletic wear company who pays Kaepernick to endorse them despite not playing a sport, pulled the release of a special shoe meant to commemorate Independence Day, the Air Max 1 USA’s. According to the Wall Street Journal, it was Kaepernick that spurred Nike to its decision to cancel the shoe’s release.
The shoe featured patriotic red, white and blue colors with a Betsy Ross flag, which observes the 13 original colonies of the U.S., on the rear of the shoe.
Kaepernick reportedly contacted Nike about the shoe, saying that the Betsy Ross flag is an “offensive symbol because of its connection to slavery.”
By Kaepernick’s own logic, does that mean that certain countries' flags in Western Africa who sold slaves could be deemed as “offensive symbols?” Just trying to be fair here. All slavery is horrible, not just the instances of slavery that Kaepernick and other activists have had other people tell them was bad.
Is Egypt’s flag “offensive” to Kaepernick? They used to have slaves. The point being, if you’re going to take the stance that the American flag is racist, then pretty much every flag of every developed country on the map should be deemed “offensive" since most have, unfortunately, held slaves at some point in their histories.
A Nike spokeswoman gave the Wall Street Journal a comment, but didn’t mention Kaepernick.
“Nike has chosen not to release the Air Max 1 Quick Strike Fourth of July as it featured the old version of the American flag,” the spokeswoman said.
If that’s the case, then why has the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers logo featured a variation of the stars representing the 13 colonies over the years? I thought it was racist? One could surmise that Nike doesn’t always consider the colonies symbol as racist because they’re the ones who make the 76ers jerseys.
Why hasn’t Kaepernick spoken up about other countries who have historically had slaves or an NBA logo that the company that pays him, Nike, manufactures?
Judging by the lack of urgency on Kaepernick’s part to get back into the NFL, I’d say it has more to do with the profitability of his activism than the actual activism itself.
Either way, the patriotic shoe has been shelved. And Kaepernick, for now, is smiling ear to ear because of the power he seemingly holds over a Fortune 500 company.
H/T: Fox News