Mike, I should have known that. I watch Suits. But still.
I'm just too damn pure for this world.
Nike, Did We Ever Really Know Ya?
As I celebrated Independence Day, yesterday, oddly I found myself ruminating over Nike' s recent decision to pull the Betsy Ross Flagged sneakers from their stores, just because Colin Kaepernick was offended that the Betsy Ross Flag represented a time in our nations history when slavery was accepted. To my mind, that's a pretty ridiculous stretch. The Betsy Ross flag represents a lot of very positive things to a lot of good people. Hell, several of our Founding Fathers owned slaves. I believe the records show that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc. owned, or lived in households maintained by and operated through the efforts of slave labor. Should we discard the Constitution? Do we disavow the contributions of any who may have at one point been touched by or benefited from the efforts of slave labor. I think not. That would be woefully shortsighted and decicedly stupid. Don't get me wrong...I am a fire breathing opponent of even the concept of slavery and find it to be one of the most unfortunate and hateful threads that were woven into the fabric of the United States of America. However I realize the extended threat(s) of trying to pull such hateful thread(s) from our cloakes of patriotism to be a fruitless undertaking and one that could lead to the unaveling of the very fabric of our society! Jeez Louise Nike, have you totally lost your good sense?
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I'm just too damn pure for this world.
I somehow doubt that. 😉
I'm probably one of the biggest Lefties in this forum, but how someone can take Betsy Ross, or her flag, and somehow twist her into a modern commentary on racism? Well, it's silly.
I mean, if there is a room in Heaven where the Nice Ladies of History sit around quilting or whatever, Betsy Ross is certainly there. Having tea, probably.
(Admittedly, I say this having never actually studied her biography, and I have no intention of ever doing so, but how bad could she be?)
I *understand* the thinking - some *********** groups have coopted traditional symbols and flags ("Don't Tread on Me" being the one that immediately comes to mind) - but a move like this simply *legitimizes* such groups.
I mean, what, if they appropriate the Che profile, or the Jamaican flag, do those magically become racist symbols? No.
(FWIW it was a gawd-awful, hideous shoe, and perfectly merited banning on *that* ground.)
DH
I mean, if there is a room in Heaven where the Nice Ladies of History sit around quilting or whatever, Betsy Ross is certainly there. Having tea, probably.
(Admittedly, I say this having never actually studied her biography, and I have no intention of ever doing so, but how bad could she be?)
I *understand* the thinking - some *********** groups have coopted traditional symbols and flags ("Don't Tread on Me" being the one that immediately comes to mind) - but a move like this simply *legitimizes* such groups.
I mean, what, if they appropriate the Che profile, or the Jamaican flag, do those magically become racist symbols? No.
(FWIW it was a gawd-awful, hideous shoe, and perfectly merited banning on *that* ground.)
DH
I agree with what you say. Except of course the dance part. What t'hell was that? One of the attributes that Conservatives seem to share is fear of stuff. I wish they would tone that down. For their sakes. Maybe concentrate more on Now. It's not that scary. Now did not happened all at once. It crept up on us, gave us a chance to get ready, which maybe we didn't take advantage of. Lord knows you and I, and perhaps Mike who's in on this too, have years long knowledge of Then. Not even a little tired of it? I'm quite fond of Now.Those repulsive hate groups are also displaying the 'Don't Tread on Me' flags, displaying a coiled snake spraled across the stars and bars. Are we going to allow hate groups to define what constitute hot buttons that trigger reactions from the various minority groups. If we get rid of everything the hate groups might embrace, I fear we may not have much left and besides, I really don't like the idea of the hate mongers calling the tunes at my dance!
Yesterday, the 4th of July and the most perfectly beautful day in Maine in a decade, my brother and I drove 100 miles to the town with the farm where we were born and from where we left when I was 8 and he 11. And we had never been back. And I don't think a day of those 65 absent years went by without my thoughts going there. A dreamland. And still is it turns out, dammit. Would pick this house up with it's view of the ocean and lift it away up there to the fields and meadows and woods in a heartbeat, if I could. But that was yesterday. It ain't coming back.
May be time to hand in Your Biggest Leftie On The Forum I.D. if you think this is about a granny knitting a flag.I'm probably one of the biggest Lefties in this forum, but how someone can take Betsy Ross, or her flag, and somehow twist her into a modern commentary on racism? Well, it's silly.
Speaking of which I knew a woman who took a few balls of steel wool and knitted herself a stove. Badda-boom. From the 4th grade. I remember a good line.
And let us all work to make it as meaningful to all asAgreed.
And allowing a group of odious bigots to appropriate something that belongs to all of us is a noxious and cowardly concession.
I wasn't with a firm at the time. I was the in house general counsel. I was once a partner in a law firm, but we were, thankfully, above such shenanigans. As I stated, it was a strategy deployed by the CEO and the prior GC. I was brought in to clean up the mess.No fear. They're not grabbing symbols willy nilly. They must mean something to them, from a time before their time, when they thought all was white and wonderful, or when their numbers had swelled so that they were more than a looney fringe, a looney power. Nazi Germany, the Klan of the South, at this country's inception before any immigration (the Ross flag.)
By the way, did your firm actually operate the way your anecdote stated? Man. But never mind.
It's a metaphor, Peak -- that's all. Unless I'm mistaken Eagle is saying that this is our country (i,e., dance) and we should not allow a fringe group of hateful knuckleheads to decide what our symbols and history mean (i.e., call the tunes).I agree with what you say. Except of course the dance part. What t'hell was that? One of the attributes that Conservatives seem to share is fear of stuff. I wish they would tone that down. For their sakes. Maybe concentrate more on Now. It's not that scary. Now did not happened all at once. It crept up on us, gave us a chance to get ready, which maybe we didn't take advantage of. Lord knows you and I, and perhaps Mike who's in on this too, have years long knowledge of Then. Not even a little tired of it? I'm quite fond of Now.
As far as Then and Now, I'm not taking the bait to go down that unproductive rabbit hole.
My friend, you have hit the nail squarely on the head...and done so with greater eloquence than I could have hoped to muster. Thanks!It's a metaphor, Peak -- that's all. Unless I'm mistaken Eagle is saying that this is our country (i,e., dance) and we should not allow a fringe group of hateful knuckleheads to decide what our symbols and history mean (i.e., call the tunes).
As far as Then and Now, I'm not taking the bait to go down that unproductive rabbit hole.
It's too bad that, in appropriating what is colloquially known as the "Betsy Ross Flag," some white supremacy yokels have spoiled what to me is an aesthetically pleasing ensign.
Because I had generally tuned out the phenomenon called "white nationalism" or "white supremacy," I recently skimmed a Wikipedia article to learn at least a little bit about the connection between white-based hate groups and the "Betsy Ross Flag." I learned that the flag appears in the official seal of the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs.
Uh-oh.
Because I had generally tuned out the phenomenon called "white nationalism" or "white supremacy," I recently skimmed a Wikipedia article to learn at least a little bit about the connection between white-based hate groups and the "Betsy Ross Flag." I learned that the flag appears in the official seal of the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs.
Uh-oh.
Nike can do whatever it wishes. I'm a logical conservative Christian. I realize both (ok, all three if you wanna include "libertarians") parties have points. My firm beliefs are that God:
1 created us all to be equal.
2 created the Church to handle social issues
3 gives us total free will to do as we please
While I try to live my life in a fashion that reflects this, I often fail. I dislike Kaepernick. But the truth is the only thing I dislike is his attitude and apparent device of gain in his "kneeling campaign".
He has far more athletic talent and drive than I have. I'm not someone who couldn't be in the NBA. I just didn't have the drive (nor the want) to do so.
He's respectful; instead of sitting during the national anthem, he chose to kneel respectfully. It's not in protest of the country or the national anthem. It's basically the only time kneeling would be noticed. Any other time, it's just a guy kneeling to rest a leg or get a different vantage point.
I defend his honor, but not everything about him.
Just like Joel Osteen. He is FAR from anyone I want leading a congregation of millions, but I defend him when people are aghast that he's rich. He's a ten time New York Times Best-Selling Author. What he does with his money is between him and God. I defend him when it comes to the Hurricane Harvey backlash. He opened his church almost immediately for flooding victims once it was deemed a safe place for that service.
Kaepernick isn't my favorite person on this planet, but I do feel this could, as a small side effect, open conversations for the folks I do know that like sports and have somewhat closed minds. Maybe there's some good in this. Time will tell.
Clint
1 created us all to be equal.
2 created the Church to handle social issues
3 gives us total free will to do as we please
While I try to live my life in a fashion that reflects this, I often fail. I dislike Kaepernick. But the truth is the only thing I dislike is his attitude and apparent device of gain in his "kneeling campaign".
He has far more athletic talent and drive than I have. I'm not someone who couldn't be in the NBA. I just didn't have the drive (nor the want) to do so.
He's respectful; instead of sitting during the national anthem, he chose to kneel respectfully. It's not in protest of the country or the national anthem. It's basically the only time kneeling would be noticed. Any other time, it's just a guy kneeling to rest a leg or get a different vantage point.
I defend his honor, but not everything about him.
Just like Joel Osteen. He is FAR from anyone I want leading a congregation of millions, but I defend him when people are aghast that he's rich. He's a ten time New York Times Best-Selling Author. What he does with his money is between him and God. I defend him when it comes to the Hurricane Harvey backlash. He opened his church almost immediately for flooding victims once it was deemed a safe place for that service.
Kaepernick isn't my favorite person on this planet, but I do feel this could, as a small side effect, open conversations for the folks I do know that like sports and have somewhat closed minds. Maybe there's some good in this. Time will tell.
Clint
^^(In response to post #30)
Very well put, my friend. I do hope you are right and that over time, some good will come of this. However, I must confess I harbor substantial doubt that Colin Kaepernick's motivations in this most recent dust-up are pure, but rather he wants to reclaim the spotlight for his personal edification. I suppose I just might be a bit of a cynic? :icon_scratch:
Very well put, my friend. I do hope you are right and that over time, some good will come of this. However, I must confess I harbor substantial doubt that Colin Kaepernick's motivations in this most recent dust-up are pure, but rather he wants to reclaim the spotlight for his personal edification. I suppose I just might be a bit of a cynic? :icon_scratch:
On the other hand I'm willing to concede that CK is probably mostly sincere. But I also think he is mostly wrongheaded, and this wrongheadedness is grounded in a phenomenon common among ideologues, these days especially on the Left -- a naive understanding of history and the human condition that is revealed by hubristic virtue-signaling, which is likely more compulsive than mercenary.^^(In response to post #30)
Very well put, my friend. I do hope you are right and that over time, some good will come of this. However, I must confess I harbor substantial doubt that Colin Kaepernick's motivations in this most recent dust-up are pure, but rather he wants to reclaim the spotlight for his personal edification. I suppose I just might be a bit of a cynic? :icon_scratch:
"When black Harvard economist Roland Fryer conducted a 2016 study of police use of force, he expected to find widespread evidence of police officers disproportionately using deadly force against blacks. Instead, he found the opposite. Police, he concluded, were more hesitant to use deadly force against blacks than against whites. "It is," he admitted, "the most surprising result of my career." This tracks another study published in 2014 by researchers at Washington State University, who reached the same conclusion, finding "there was significant bias favoring (emphasis added) blacks where decisions to shoot were concerned.......Contrary to the Black Lives Matter narrative, the police have much more to fear from black males than black males have to fear from the police. ... Black males have made up 42 percent of all cop-killers over the last decade, though they are only 6 percent of the population."
Source
Source
Everything is a racist symbol now. I wonder if CK frets over the fact that the money he makes and spends contains the visage of quite a few slaveholders.
By the way, Nike is not exactly a profile in courage:
https://apple.news/A2ux1o4OVT_-Wp_9dYden8w
To me, this is far more disturbing.
By the way, Nike is not exactly a profile in courage:
https://apple.news/A2ux1o4OVT_-Wp_9dYden8w
To me, this is far more disturbing.
21 - 34 of 34 Posts
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