Censorship reigns supreme in today’s society, especially when it comes to respecting, honoring, or reminding citizens of the not-too-distant historical past that helped shape the nation for which they reside. A perfect illustration of that statement comes in the form of ex-football player Colin Kapernick advocating for the censorship of Nike’s Betsy Ross 13-star flag shoe, to which the mega-corporation obliged.
The cancellation of the shoe was made apparent through a news article published on July 1st, 2019 by the Wall Street Journal. The article details how the Air Max 1 USA edition of the Nike sports sneaker was supposed to go on sale later in the week to celebrate July 4th, Independence Day, but it was forced to take a knee and bow out of the game of consumer capitalism. Why? Because of Kapernick.
Shortly after publication, the article went viral; the story went viral; and it even managed to land itself a Twitter moment in the U.S.
According to @WSJ, Nike will not release its Fourth of July flag-themed shoes after speaking with Colin Kaepernick, who says he and others see the Betsy Ross 13-star flag as an “offensive symbol because of its connection to an era of slavery.”https://t.co/8xQFe9Tiw8
— Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) July 2, 2019
President Trump’s senior advisor Kimberly Guilfoyle was quick to to call out Nike and Kapernick, as well as the “corporate PC police” who have done nothing but ruin fun, entertainment, and everyone’s lives as they seek out ways to inject censorship into everything they can sink their claws into.
America and the promise made in the Declaration of Independence gave birth to the greatest nation on the planet. But Kaepernick and the corporate PC police are embarrassed by the flag and that promise. Pathetic. Stand for America and the flag! #MAGA #KAG https://t.co/9zlb7WzNWY
— Kimberly Guilfoyle (@kimguilfoyle) July 2, 2019
Various other patriots, Conservatives, and those who value freedom also chimed in to condemn Nike’s sociopolitical servitude to the dictatorial whims of Colin Kapernick.
Graham Allen, the host of the Dear America Podcast, asked if it were possible to just have one day to be proud to be American.
BREAKING:@Nike just pulled a 4th of July themed shoe feat a Betsy Ross American Flag because @Kaepernick7 complained saying it was “offensive”?!?!?!
Can we just for ONE DAY Attempt to be Americans and be PROUD especially during the 4th of July!
The day we became America?!
— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) July 2, 2019
Ryan Fournier, political analyst and commentator, also was quick to make it known that Kapernick was behaving very un-American.
Nike planned to release a ‘Betsy Ross American Flag’ shoe design for the 4th of July, but cancelled the project when Colin Kaepernick complained about it being “offensive.”
Colin Karpernick is un-American!
Who else agrees?
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) July 2, 2019
Others also tried to instill some common sense into the conversation, explaining that the shoe wasn’t racist, and that the 13-star flag wasn’t intended to represent slavery, but the first steps toward uniting America.
This is getting absurd. The shoes don’t stand for slavery, they represent the first flag that flew over our united nation. People need to realize that any historical artifact of the US is not a symbol for slavery purely since they existed at the same time. https://t.co/jNK2u34mvY
— Ben Silvey (@freefeets) July 1, 2019
So the Betsy Ross Flag is offensive??? But the child slavery sweat shops Nike owns isn’t? Okay
— Aaron 🇺🇸 (@AaronSlam13) July 2, 2019
However, there were also those on the other side cheering for the censorship, as usual.
Former New Yorker editor Elizabeth Spiers was front and center, ready to make excuses for the censorship because of “white nationalism”.
The Betsy Ross flag is not “the American flag”, and as I’m sure you’re aware, it’s been appropriated as a symbol of white nationalism. Would you approve of a Confederate flag sneaker? Or do you consider that an American flag too? https://t.co/ReX29V1RIo
— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) July 2, 2019
Someone should let Spiers know that white nationalists also breathe in air, and that maybe she should stop breathing lest she be considered a white nationalist.
FanSided founder Adam Best was also quick to jump onto the American hate-train, also claiming that the flag was turned into a “symbol of white nationalism”.
Research the Patriot Movement if you want to learn more about what this flag is connected to. Some truly heinous shit. OKC bombing, doctor assassinations, deadly militia standoffs, hate crimes, and that’s just scratching the surface.
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) July 2, 2019
Someone should let Best know that white nationalists also drink water, and that perhaps he should stop drinking water and embrace dehydration lest he be considered a white nationalist.
Writer Meghan L. Dowling also decided to take aim at people defending the Betsy Ross flag, claiming that instead of people being angry at Kapernick, they should be angry at… “white nationalists”?
Here’s a thought: maybe instead of lambasting/ridiculing Colin Kaepernick you should be angry at white nationalists for co-opting the Betsy Ross flag. (Too logical?)
— Meghan L. Dowling (@MeghanLDowling) July 2, 2019
So if white nationalists co-op wearing clothes does that mean Dowling should stop wearing clothes? Then again, maybe that’s not a good idea. A lot of people still need to use their eyes and going without clothes is the best way to make people stop using their eyes.
I would like to keep using my eyes, so keep your clothes on. Thank you very much.
It’s also amazing how so many anti-Americans living in America hate the American flag and American culture and freedom oh-so-much, yet none of them seem bothered by the fact that Nike runs sweatshops out of Asia, which you can read about over on The Guardian.
Betsy Ross flag is racist and this guy is a slave pic.twitter.com/PhBGWyHuV2
— ChrisinHtown (@ChrisinHtown) July 2, 2019
I guess being offended about past history is more important than the current-day Asian sweatshop slaves who make the shoes, eh?
Anyway, social media is a battleground over silliness right now, with one group championing freedom and the other group basically wanting to become an American-hating version of China.
A lot of people believe that this insanity won’t end until America has a second Civil War, and at the current rate it doesn’t look like that prediction is too far off.
(Thanks for the news tip ThyBonesConsumed)
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