Nike pulled its Betsy Ross flag sneakers amid Colin Kaepernick’s concerns of its ties to racism. Nike’s protegee sees the 13-star flag as “offensive symbol because of its connection to an era of slavery.”
The Betsy Ross flag indeed was the first flag that flew over the united nation during a time, incidentally, when black people still served in cotton fields. But does that mean showing the first American flag makes you a white supremacist? Proves your solidarity with hate groups?
Anyway, it was a great publicity stunt for Nike and Kaepernick. And a self-fulfilling prophecy. The flag represents the original colonies which at that time practiced racial segregation, so, by further marginalizing its symbolism, only white people will display it, which will then be further accused of racism until the showing of the Betsy Ross flag is prohibited.
What we see now is a kind of reverse racism, where black folks like Colin Kaepernick are restricting the freedoms of white people. They certainly can’t show flag any more.
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