Nike dropped Betsy Ross-themed Fourth of July sneaker after Colin Kaepernick complained, report says

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Liam Quinn | Fox News


https://i.imgur.com/AeJd0B4l.jpg

Just don’t do it.

That was the message ex-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick delivered to Nike over the planned release of a USA-themed sneaker, which featured a Betsy Ross flag on the heel, according to a report.

Nike nixed the released of the Air Max 1 USA after having already sent the sneakers to retailers because the protesting quarterback said he felt the use of the Betsy Ross flag was offensive and carried slavery connotations, sources told The Wall Street Journal.

https://i.imgur.com/DZqJeKnl.jpg

Citing people familiar with the matter, the Journal’s report stated: “After images of the shoe were posted online, Mr. Kaepernick, a Nike endorser, reached out to company officials saying that he and others felt the Betsy Ross flag is an offensive symbol because of its connection to an era of slavery.”

In response, a Nike spokeswoman told the Journal: “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 sneaker originally was slated to be released on Monday, and posts hyping its release said it would cost $140.

Kaepernick, the former quarterback who famously kneeled during the National Anthem starting in 2016, was named as the face of Nike’s latest “Just Do It” campaign last year. After the announcement, Nike’s stock initially fell more than 3 percent, before online sales increased.

A report from Edison Trends said the company’s online sales grew 31 percent the week the campaign was launched. The surge was stronger than the 17 percent increase recorded last year during the same period, the report stated.

“There was speculation that the Nike/Kaepernick campaign would lead to a drop in sales but the data does not support that theory,” the company said in a statement.

[DemonGeminiX]

Fuck this racist pansy prick.

[Muddy]

Fuck this racist pansy prick.

More'so, fuck Nike for hiring him.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

I stopped buying Nike after they took their stance. Now they are just reinforcing my decision

[Muddy]

I stopped buying Nike after they took their stance. Now they are just reinforcing my decision

ditto.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Joshua Caplan - Breitbart


https://i.imgur.com/NBvcFhD.png

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey (R) announced Tuesday morning he has directed the Arizona Commerce Authority to cancel all financial incentives for Nike’s planned manufacturing plant in the Grand Canyon State.

Ducey said his decision was made in response to a Wall Street Journal report stating former NFL anthem-protester and Nike pitchman Colin Kaepernick pressured Nike to pull its America-themed 4th of July sneakers featuring the “Betsy Ross” flag because he and others found the design to be offensive. “Nike has chosen not to release the Air Max 1 Quick Strike Fourth of July as it featured an old version of the American flag,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to CNN of the decision.

In a series of tweets, Ducey expressed his disappointed in Nike’s decision to nix the shoes and explained his decision to withdraw incentives to the company.

“Words cannot express my disappointment at this terrible decision. I am embarrassed for Nike,” Ducey wrote on Twitter. “Nike is an iconic American brand and American company. This country, our system of government and free enterprise have allowed them to prosper and flourish.”

“Instead of celebrating American history the week of our nation’s independence, Nike has apparently decided that Betsy Ross is unworthy, and has bowed to the current onslaught of political correctness and historical revisionism. It is a shameful retreat for the company. American businesses should be proud of our country’s history, not abandoning it,” the Arizona Governor continued. “Nike has made its decision, and now we’re making ours. I’ve ordered the Arizona Commerce Authority to withdraw all financial incentive dollars under their discretion that the State was providing for the company to locate here. Arizona’s economy is doing just fine without Nike. We don’t need to suck up to companies that consciously denigrate our nation’s history.

“And finally, it shouldn’t take a controversy over a shoe for our kids to know who Betsy Ross is. A founding mother. Her story should be taught in all American schools. In the meantime, it’s worth googling her,” he added.

According to the Arizona Republic, Nike has plans to invest at least $184.5 million into the plant. The move is estimated to create more than 500 full-time jobs as well as $7.7 million in direct revenue for the area. The plant’s overall economic impact is said to be valued at more than $483 million in its first five years of operation.

Kaepernick, then with the San Francisco 49ers, sparked a wave of protests about social and racial injustice in 2016 by kneeling during the national anthem at games. Since then, Nike hired him to be the face of its “Just Do It” ad campaign with the slogan: “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”

The Journal previously reported,“The campaign generated a backlash among some consumers, who began torching Nike shoes and cutting its swoosh logo out of gear. The protests were countered by expressions of support for Nike.

“Since the ad was released, Nike has posted higher sales, boosted by strong demand in both the U.S. and China. In the fourth quarter, sales rose 4% to $10.18 billion. Its share price has climbed more than 15% so far this year,” the newspaper added.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

:fu: Good for him

[Griffin]

AOC could learn a few things from this guy (Arizona Governor Doug Ducey) about when it's appropriate to tell a major corporation to take a flying fuck, we don't need your business.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

1146233852609925121

[Teh One Who Knocks]

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[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Emily Zanotti - The Daily Wire


https://i.imgur.com/CTc4z80l.jpg

MSNBC regular Michael Eric Dyson rushed to Colin Kaepernick's defense on the network Wednesday, calling the "Betsy Ross" flag — the original American flag for the 13 colonies — a symbol of racist oppression akin to a Nazi swastika or a burning cross.

Speaking on the subject with MSNBC host Hallie Jackson, Dyson claimed that the flag is a well-known symbol of white supremacy, even though few Americans — and more than a few historians — hadn't heard about the flag's problematic history before this week, when former NFL second-string quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, complained about the flag appearing on a pair of limited-edition Nike sneakers.

“Symbols matter too. Why don't we wear a swastika for July Fourth?... It makes a difference," Dyson said. "The cross burning on somebody's lawn. Why don’t we have a Nike, you know, celebration of the cross?”

WATCH:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eA3ECUX3Bo

Dyson is a professor at Georgetown University and a frequent guest on the network. He appeared on MSNBC Wednesday to defend Nike's decision to pull the "Betsy Ross flag" sneaker after Kaepernick complained that the flag itself was a symbol of oppression and an implicit endorsement of slavery.

Dyson was asked to respond to whether the move by Nike represented "PC culture run amok." Clearly, he disagreed.

"It's amazing to me the people that people that cry the loudest about PC are the ones who didn’t show up when the offense first occurred," Dyson went on, "who didn't defend the people who were victims of white supremacy or racism or sexism or misogyny.”

Until Monday evening, the "Betsy Ross flag" — a flag hailing from the dawn of America's Revolutionary War, which features only 13 stars on the flag's field of blue, representing the 13 original colonies — was simply a bit of history. Ross, who, according to legend, sewed the first American flag, was a Quaker and her family staunch abolitionists.

But Kaepernick, who has long insisted that his protests against the flag and national anthem were simply about racial bias, apparently demanded that a limited edition pair of sneakers, released by Nike in celebration of Independence Day, be pulled from the market because the 13-star flag was representative of America's founding and its association with the practice of slavery.

Since the story surfaced Monday, a number of high-profile progressives — including former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro and former Texas Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke, both of whom are competing for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination — have come out in support of Kaepernick's interpretation of one of America's enduring symbols.

Castro compared the Revolutionary War flag to that of the Confederacy: "There are a lot of things in our history that are still very painful. The Confederate flag that still flies in some places and is used as a symbol," he told CBS News.

Beto called the controversy "provoking," and claimed that some "white nationalist groups" have appropriated the 13-star flag in recent years (though Beto couldn't point to a specific example).

"I think its really important to take into account the impression that kind of symbol would have for many of our fellow Americans, respect the decision Nike made and grateful for the conversation," O'Rourke said. "The version of the flag that was used on Nike shoes in question has by some extremist/white nationalist groups been appropriated."

Historians and experts, though, have been left scratching their heads at Kaepernick's excuse, and as Alex Griswold pointed out on Twitter, left-leaning media reporting on the issue have been left to ascribe the revisionism to "social media" sources.
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The Nike shoe recall has provoked boycotts and condemnation, though Nike has so far refused to acknowledge that the sneaker situation is connected to Colin Kaepernick, with whom they have a multi-million dollar, multi-year advertising deal.

[DemonGeminiX]

:|

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Start with flying the Betsy Ross flag and the next thing you know we'll be hanging blacks in the town squares [-(

[RBP]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT0vTBYE6BI

https://i.imgur.com/Hg2Uobr.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/lkLKpa1.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/qpKL95Q.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/WtOKez6.jpg

https://www.ninelineapparel.com/

[Teh One Who Knocks]

:triggered:

[DemonGeminiX]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT0vTBYE6BI

https://i.imgur.com/Hg2Uobr.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/lkLKpa1.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/qpKL95Q.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/WtOKez6.jpg

https://www.ninelineapparel.com/

I'll be shopping at their website in the future.

[RBP]

I'll be shopping at their website in the future.

There are some 2nd amendment lines you'll like. Combat Veteran owned, Georgia company.

[DemonGeminiX]

:thumbsup:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Bunch of fucking Nazi's up in here [-(

[DemonGeminiX]

Bunch of fucking Nazi's up in here [-(

So what did you buy from them?

[RBP]

So what did you buy from them?

I am betting the car sticker. I posted that for Lance. :lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I don't support literal Nazi's :hand:

[DemonGeminiX]

I don't support literal Nazi's :hand:

They've got a 3 for 2 T-shirt sale going on.

[RBP]

From Obama's 2nd Inauguration.

https://i.imgur.com/DpVStMp.jpg

[Hal-9000]

Jesus Fucking Christ when are some people going to realize not everything that occurred in America from 1700-2019 does not involve slavery at every turn?


:facepalm:

What's next...the Liberty Bell needs to be melted down because: slavery?
The Declaration of Independence is null and void because: slavery?
The landings during D-Day were not important because not many blacks took part?


/rant

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Joseph A. Wulfsohn | Fox News


https://i.imgur.com/YOsBa7hl.png

It was inevitable that the 2020 candidates would weigh in on the Betsy Ross flag-sneaker controversy.

Two Democratic hopefuls have expressed their support for Nike after the sportswear company pulled sneakers featuring the Betsy Ross-designed American flag ahead of the Fourth of July holiday. The company did so after former NFL quarterback and Nike endorser Colin Kaepernick raised concerns about the shoes.

Former HUD Secretary Julián Castro told CBS News on Wednesday that he was "glad to see" Nike remove the shoes from the shelves, comparing the "painful" symbol to the Confederate flag.

"There are a lot of things in our history that are still very painful," Castro explained. As an example, he cited "the Confederate flag that still flies in some places and is used as a symbol."
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Former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke also approved of Nike's decision, noting that "white nationalist groups" have "appropriated" the Betsy Ross flag.

"I think its really important to take into account the impression that kind of symbol would have for many of our fellow Americans," he said, according to Jewish Insider senior political reporter Ben Jacobs.

Republican politicians have had quite the opposite reaction. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz pushed for a Nike boycott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced on Tuesday that the state would withdraw its planned incentive for the company to build a plant there.