[LOCKED] Way OT: Kaepernick got Nike to remove American flag from shoes because it's racist

Yup. Not going to end well. 

And they're off

Because he's the embodiment of a freaking Snowflake. Cry loudly enough and call everything racist, sexist, misogynist, anti ________ (fill in the blank) and companies will change their policies even as they pertain to the country and the flag. let's face it, we are living in corroded politically correct times such that the sight of a flag or a founding father makes snowflakes melt.  Glad I was born in a generation that didn't go into hysterics so easily.

I’m not gonna get into this on this thread, but the Betsy Ross flag isn’t a confederate flag

I believe that this is less about the time frame and more about the Betsy Ross flag being used by bigoted/racist groups like the KKK

My ancestors were slaves and I'm telling you it's okay for you to have an opinion. Some of us who are Black don't cry about history, we study it objectively and learn from it rather than trying to ban it in a real life version of Fahrenheit 451. Also many of us think Nike is stupid for catering to this PC garbage. America is the greatest country on earth for everyone.  Pray tell why do so many people continue to try and move here if it's so bad - and I don't see Kapernick or anyone else trying to leave and go elsewhere.

I also asked my wife, who is a POC, whose ancestors (and more recent relatives) were slaves, and she said TheCube is allowed to have opinion.

Also, my ancestors were slaves too.  Check out the root meaning of the word "slave" - it comes from the word "slavs", who inhabited a large part of Eastern Europe, were taken as slaves by the Muslims of Spain during the ninth century AD.

Companies who market to youth are especially alert and sensitive to their consumers. When the President is overtly stoking racism and xenophobia, and harkening back to old times when America "was great," it suggests that it was great for everyone in this country. It wasn't great for women, people of color, individuals who weren't identified as heterosexual and Christian, nor for immigrants that had not established a foothold in America. Of course there are some companies don't give a shit.

I don't think foreign policy qualifies. 

Speaking of, have you heard about our lord and savior Erik bakich? 

The stretch looks to be the OP's. "Racist" will garner more views/replies than "offensive."

C.K. apparently said he considered the flag to be "offensive" for the reasons you listed.

Partly? There was slavery in the colonial US. Full stop.  It was prevalent in New York, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and to a lesser extent other northern colonial areas (e.g., Pennsylvania).  There were definitely more slaves in Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia than in other colonies, but to say slavery was only in the South shows your lack of being informed on the matter.

I don't see his logic on this being that it represented oppression. Perhaps one could make the case if it were a flag from the Constitutional Convention when the issue of slavery was on the table but the fact is the Betsy Ross flag was created in 1776 when our country was barely even begun by a group of people who were fighting against oppression. One would think based on its history that he would embrace the flag but the irony is that instead its the flag itself that he has issues with. Its sad that our flag has become such a divisive issue when it was made to be a unifying symbol.

Ah yes, because all of those boycotts in the past totally put Starbucks, Delta, Keurig, and various other companies out of business.  I guess you can just keep pulling yourselves up by your bootstraps, as long as they don't have a swoosh on them.