To commemorate America’s Independence Day, Nike had planned to release a special edition sneaker bearing the original thirteen-star Betsy Ross American flag. But before they could go on sale, the sportswear giant abruptly decided to pull them from shelves after claims that the inclusion of the Betsy Ross flag is inappropriate because of its supposed symbolic connections to slavery and white supremacy.
Many supporters of Nike’s decision were quick to justify the recall by pointing to the fact that extremist groups like the Three Percenters had begun using a slight variation of the Betsy Ross flag as their own in recent years. But in using these rogue ideological extremists as the justification for distancing themselves from America’s founding flag — a symbol of our hard-fought independence and the values we were founded on — are Nike officials not clearly letting the bad guys win?
By bowing to social pressure without any resistance, Nike has reinforced for extremist groups the idea that even the most sacred cornerstones of American symbolism are theirs for the taking. Here you go — seize, bend, twist and distort our nation’s iconography. People at Nike and their allies will do nothing to protect even the most sacred symbols among them.
Nike could have taken a stand against misappropriation by pointing out that Betsy Ross was a devout Quaker, highlighting the symbolic connection between her namesake flag and the Quaker Movement’s role in founding the original abolitionist movement in America. Their attacks on Ross could hardly be less appropriate. Yet Nike’s officers, instead of using their intelligence and their massive social influence to reclaim the validity of our founding flag, chose instead to chicken out.
It feels inherently wrong to sit back and let extremist groups alter the symbolism that defines the birth of our nation. We should be actively using these symbols in a way that aims to restore their original social meaning. Instead, by letting extremists dictate the meaning of any symbol they choose to associate themselves with, we are letting otherwise irrelevant philistines live rent-free in our national consciousness.
The result is that dangerous racists are weaponizing our cowardice and political correctness to use against us. They have apparently learned that corporate cowards will avoid conflict at all costs, even if it means ceding to them anything they manage to taint by association. How long will it be before groups like this try to turn our current flag against us?
We have already seen innocuous cultural symbols (the “okay” sign) and even food items (milk!) turn into symbols of hate because online extremists embraced them as part of a prank. Extremists have also tried to lay claim to New Balance shoes and the Detroit Redwings logo, of all things. So the Betsy Ross flag is only the latest symbol to be appropriated in this manner, but it is by far the most culturally significant one to date. And it is one worth defending.
This is the flag that flew at our founding. It reflects the standard of life we are privileged to have, and the countless sacrifices that were made throughout history to acquire and preserve the liberties we enjoy today. It’s long past time we said enough is enough and fought back against extremist appropriation of our nation’s most sacred symbols.
Chris Chung is an inventor and a recent graduate of Tulane Law School. Email him at [email protected].
