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Rutgers Expert Available to Comment on Nike Cancellation of “Betsy Ross Flag” Sneaker
New Brunswick, N.J. (July 3, 2019) – Rutgers scholar Louis Benjamin Rolksy, an expert in American popular culture, race and class, is available to comment on Nike's cancellation of its “Betsy Ross flag” sneaker.
The shoes were set to hit store shelves in time for Fourth of July, but Colin Kaepernick, the former National Football League quarterback and social justice activist, reportedly told Nike that the 13-star flag is offensive because it has been used to support white supremacy.
“This latest incident concerning Nike speaks to the ongoing debate that has defined American identity since the nation's founding,” Rolksy said. “Only this time, such a conflict has unfolded in the age of social immediacy and vindictive acts of cultural and political warfare. There are no simple right or wrong answers to these types of situations because they simply do not exist for all parties involved – conservative or otherwise. Mr. Kaepernick is pushing things forward in the culture, but he could do more to get inside the hearts and minds of Americans as more than a persona – as an African-American man who is in touch with the ebbs and flows of an entire generation in the name of electoral politics.
It would be more beneficial for Kaepernick to own his cultural influence, humanitarian awards and activism in the public square. Some have even called him a moral presence, but it could be applied to more than just commercial enterprises. If he chooses to remain on the sidelines as it were, the only individuals who will actually benefit from his actions are those who hold Nike stock."
Rolsky is a part-time lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers–New Brunswick. His book, The Rise and Fall of the Religious Left. Politics, Television, and Popular Culture in the 1970s and Beyond will be released November, 2019.
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