With all the serious issues facing the United States, progressives have taken up arms in their quest to fight the most significant one, at least according to them: blocking Nike from releasing a sneaker with the Betsy Ross flag on it and punishing them for having the gall to even think of doing so.
The Betsy Ross flag is named after a Pennsylvania seamstress who legend says created it in 1777. It is identical to the current American flag except that it was created at a time when the US had just 13 states, so the stars in the upper left corner were placed in a circle.
In honor of July 4th, Nike decided to release a sneaker with the Betsy Ross flag emblazoned on the heel of the shoe, called the Air Max 1 Quick Strike Fourth of July. But shortly before it was to begin being sold in stores, Colin Kaepernick, a former NFL quarterback infamous for starting the trend of kneeling during renditions of the Star Spangled Banner at football games, complained to the company. Kaepernick, who Nike sponsors, said that the Betsy Ross flag is a racist symbol because it comes from a time period in which Americans owned slaves. Nike responded immediately by recalling all the special edition sneakers. When the story broke, Nike’s stock dropped by over 1.3%, erasing millions in the company’s value (the stock has since recovered).
Keeping racist symbols off of merchandise being sold to the public is a good thing. Except that the Betsy Ross flag is not, and has never been, considered racist or evocative of slavery. The Anti-Defamation League keeps an extensive list of hate symbols on their website and the Betsy Ross flag is not one of them.
But if that’s not enough, the Betsy Ross flag was flown at President Obama’s second inauguration ceremony (see picture). If the flag was racist, would the nation’s first black president be OK with it being hung behind him when delivering his inaugural address? Probably not, right?
The reason this story happened is because the left will always find something to claim victimhood on. This is not about racism or the real disadvantage that many black youth encounter in their quest to gain upward mobility. Rather, it is the natural outcome of the outrage machine that has been pushed by leftists, with the intent of forever upending the real progress in race relations that has been made in the last few decades.
Nike lost money due to the manufactured outrage of just one person. Being a massive company with a huge client base, Nike will be ok. But when smaller companies, or worse, individuals, become targets of the outrage machine, lives can literally be ruined over nothing. The outrage might be fake, but the consequences are very real.
Mr. Rudman you might need a better market watch app. Nike is up 1.44% today and over 10% on the month. Whatever they’re doing is working!
Nike stock is up 1.53% today. erasing al loses and making a profit.
What is this “left” stuff? Just say your opinion without labeling some silly person as “left” (or an intelligent person as “right). It is repugnant to people who have an academic education and a repugnant term to most Americans.
If you really want to know, the great Whigs such as John Locke, Adam Smith and the twentieth century economist, Milton Friedman, are considered liberal thinkers. So stop the foreigner nonsense of “left, “left-wing”” or “leftist.” It is not how we talk in this country or how we describe other Americans, even if we despise their views.
Actually, every single political commentator refers to “left” and “right” mr educated anti foreign teacher person dude guy, get a life and dispense of you academically educated ego. And Sir Academically Educated, Liberal isnt necessarily Left, oh whatever….
If you really are a teacher, I would hope you know the difference between classic liberalism and the current crop of leftists. John Locke and Adam Smith are ideologically similar to conservatives then they are to the Socialist left. Limited government, less regulation, focus on the individual where all ideologies championed by Locke and Smith. Where people get confused is by the fact that Locke used the term “Social Contract” which had an entirely different definition than the current use. Locke’s use of the term was limited to the fact that the government had a social contract with the populace to secure the populaces natural rights. He never meant or stated that it was the governments obligation to take from one group of citizens and give to another, quite the contrary.
Sure lets get rid of those labels and use the real ones. Traitors and Patriots. The Democrats and liberals are facists/communists anti-American, anti-Semitic Traitors and the Conservatices are Patriots that love America. Simple. No need to use left and right especially if you have no sense of direction.
This is absolutely a crisis! The Left Democrats and the Main stream media say so. So it has to be true. Not like the crisis at our southern border with over a million illegal crossings to date that’s just made up by President Trump.
And in reference to a previous article, this is why we are becoming a nation that hates itself and the flag, we are being trained to by the Democrats and the Press to hate our symbols of freedom.