For Nike’s 30 year anniversary, their campaign features Colin Kaepernick as the face of it with the caption: “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”
Veterans and others have made the case that he hasn’t sacrificed everything. Especially, in context of serving the military. But to those people I will say this. Nike is an athletic apparel company, and not some wing of the United States government. From the cliche they created for Kaepernick, to their “Just Do It” shit. Fucking grow up, and stop being so susceptible to propaganda.
Furthermore, as you bitch about Kaepernick, while wearing a shirt that has the American flag on it. You’re being disrespectful too, mother fucker.
As staff sergeant with the Army’s Psychological Operations Regiment, Salil Puri, who served in Afghanistan wrote of the idea that kneeling for the flag is specifically an “affront to veterans and service members”:
This reasoning is rooted in a premise that is both wrong and dangerous. If kneeling for the anthem and the flag is a direct offense toward the military, that means veterans have a stronger claim to these symbols than Americans in general do. The argument insists that American iconography represents us more than it represents anyone else.
Yet the flag is not a symbol reserved for the military. It is a symbol of the United States of America, and it belongs equally to all citizens, including Americans who kneel during the anthem, or those who wear flag shirts (which is also in violation of the unenforceable flag code), or even those who burn the flag.
Whether I agreed with Salil Puri, or not. He is one with a life experience, and a perspective that is well thought out and has nuance. Unfortunately, we are in the age of American history that doesn’t allow that.
The reason I side with Colin Kaepernick is because America’a first cops came in the form of the slave patrol. Furthermore, how much evidence do you have to see of black people being killed by cops, until you see where Kaepernick is coming from? My guess, never.
Certainly not the morons who set their nike shoes on fire, or cut the nikes swoosh from their socks. Morons, you already paid for that apparel. They got you’re money already. Nike wouldn’t have used Kaepernick if they though it wouldn’t make them money, because they are a capitalist corporation. Furthermore, as a capitalist corporation, their use a “slaves” shows us the naked abuse of labor that capitalism will do if they are allowed to.
It’s not just Trump supporters who have taken the time to prove how stupid this shit has been. Even those who are a part of the “resistance” to Donald Trump have made Nike into some kind of martyr that even Jesus Christ would be like “Damn!”
Former CIA director John Brennan tweeted:
Colin Kaepernick drew our collective attention to the problem of continued racial injustice in America. He did so not to disrespect our flag but to give meaning to the words of the preamble of our Constitution—“in order to form a more perfect union.” Well done, Colin, well done.
As Splinter News points out:
During these dangerous times, we must have the courage to do what is right: Wear Nike shoes and work for the Central Intelligence Agency.
Amazingly, the stupid decent about the thing Kaepernick made clear from the beginning has gone to another level of insanity.
According to Right Wing Watch, “Right-wing Christian apologist Alex McFarland appeared on TheDove TV’s ‘Focus Today’ program.” On that program “he declared that Nike and NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick are both ‘borderline treasonous.’”
“(Kaepernick) is leading a lot of impressionable young people to believe that America is a bad country,” said McFarland. Muhammad Ali did worse according to white America, but America is still run by capitalism with white America on top.
McFarland insanely ranted on:
The national anthem is not worthy of Colin Kaepernick’s vaunted recognition, so he is going to kneel, he will not salute the flag, he will not stand for the national anthem. Let me say that I believe that what he’s doing to turn our young people against America is, in a long, circuitous way, really contributing to the subversion of our Constitution and is therefore borderline treasonous.
McFarland then went on to make a claim that proves that conservatives are plagued by the idea that corporations are somehow people, but that they are not profit based, but patriotic based.
“Nike is a very poor corporate citizen,” said McFarland. Of course they’d be a “poor citizen,” they’re entity is based on making money, and nothing else. McFarland went on to ask the American people to “show your fidelity to the USA and never, never, buy a Nike a product…
They’re not worthy of the support of the American consumer and I hope their shares reflect the very poor, borderlines treasonous market position they’ve built for themselves.”
Hopefully McFarland reminded his audience that Nike signed a ten year deal with the NFL.
Having said that, nothing is more American than voting with your dollar, and nothing means less than voting with their dollar.
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