Bu r n in g Sh oes an d Psu edo-Rage Commentary by Jim Killon
"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color, To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder." ~~ Colin Kaepernick
Nike Inc. leaps int o t he media spot light w it h it s cont roversial new advert isement f eat uring Colin Kaepernick, f ormer U.S. f oot ball player. In t he ad, in case you haven't seen it , is t he capt ion "Believe in somet hing. Even if it means sacrif icing everyt hing." The short version of t he cont roversy is t hat Kaepernick did not st and during t he nat ional ant hem during his games but knelt t o prot est police brut alit y and ot her nat ional injust ices against people of color. St anding has been a t radit ion, t hough not required by law , t o show respect t o t he Unit ed St at es values and respect t o American service personnel in t he milit ary w hose sacrif ice secured t hose American values. Kaepernick creat ed a nat ional f irest orm of conf lict ing opinions. W hile raising aw areness f or t he injust ices t hat people of color st ill endure daily, he also ignit ed t he w rat h of millions in t he milit ary, vet erans and ot her pat riot ic cit izens, including President Donald Trump. Then Nike brought him int o t heir f old and public out rage against t he company w ent viral. Calls f or boycot t of Nike product s and burning t heir already purchased shoes. Burning shoes you already paid f or t o prot est a company's ad is akin t o set t ing your ow n money on f ire t o prot est t he Federal Reserve int erest rat es. 785 million people in t he w orld are hungry, even st arving. Most of t hem are children. Nearly 1/2 of t he w orld's populat ion ? more t han 3 billion people ? live on less t han $2.50 a day. More t han 1.3 billion live in ext reme impoverishment ? less t han $1.25 a day. According t o UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due t o impoverishment . Americans are burning $70 shoes w hile w e see kids everyday w earing recycled pieces of t ires just t o have f oot w ear. The psuedo- concern w ill surely pass. Nike st ock w ill soar due t o t he at t ent ion just as Unit ed Airlines, Equif ax and W ells Fargo's did af t er t heir cont roversies. W e live in a superf icial, bark but not bit e, f ive second at t ent ion span w orld. Dest it ut e children around t he globe w ill cont inue t o die. Imagine if t he millions of people enraged over t he act ions of a shoe company and an ex- f oot ball player redirect ed t heir energies t o solving t he act ual issues t hat plague t he w orld. Three dollars w ould put a pair of shoes on a dest it ut e child. How do I know ? Changes f or New Hope has acquired several hundred pairs f or t hem. You can't get a lit t le bit pregnant . Eit her t he injust ices of t he w orld appall you int o act ion or you are just part of a crow d t hat shakes t heir heads, burns t heir sneakers and goes t o lunch.
