Misrepresented People

Adidas is catching heat after they announced a shoe that was supposedly "so hot that you'll shackle them to your feet." Basically it was a shoe that came with ankle cuffs.

[caption id="attachment_2344" align="alignnone" width="347"] The Adidas "Air Slaves"[/caption]

I'm not sure who the hell was sitting in that meeting, but they obviously weren't black. Or maybe they were. If I hated the company I worked for then I'd sit by idly as these were unveiled. I wouldn't say, "Don't you realize that these shoes are the equivalent of "letting our powers combine" and summoning Captain Planet Al Sharpton. (Earth, Fire, Racism, Stereotypes, Pissed off Black people...Go SHARPTON!) Al Sharpton was busy putting out a forest fire so his alternate Jessie Jackson stepped in and the shoes have since been scrapped.

I'm conflicted. On the one hand I think:

Why is everything selectively racist? It's not like prisoners don't wear shackles. Black people weren't the only slaves in history, although we were the chef's special for a while here in The States. Plus, I'm certain there would be a line of ignorant bastards standing outside the mall to buy them. We need to be upset that they're running around rehashing all of the stereotypes propagated during the Jim Crow era immediately following slavery. They're the ones running around tatted up with ugly gold fronts, dusty wifebeaters, spandex pants and a treasure trove of misplaced values. Our house is collapsing on the inside and we're too busy standing outside raking leaves trying to preserve the exterior facade.

But then I think:

I have enormous respect for Jessie Jackson and Reverend Al, as I wrote in a previous post but sometimes I feel like they're those kids who used to come to the water gun fight with just a cup of water. Yeah, they're effective if they hit you but most times it's a swing and a miss. Still, I understand where they're coming from. They come from an era where Stokely, Martin, Malcolm, Rosa, Huey and the other Superfriends had to fight so that we could do basic shit like walk in the front door. They are all that remain of the warriors who marched forward through the gates of hell to bring hope, equality and choice back home. And now they stand guard protecting it the best that they can. They won't let so much as a gnat get through if it looks like it might be carrying a speck of bacteria that resembles racism.

In the end, I can't blame them for that and I know that they're worried because no one is around to replace them when they're gone and, worst of all, it seems like we're destroying ourselves from within.