Ever since Colin Kaepernick has protested police brutality back in 2016, people have been jumping to conclusions and going a bit crazy. That all began once again when Kaepernick became the face of Nike’s latest campaign. If anything, at least it’s kickstarted a discussion overall about the protests. Next steps of course would be to realize that everyone’s favorite flag isn’t being disrespected, but the people that are protesting are.
SEE ALSO: Pat Tillman’s Wife Doesn’t Want You To Use Her Husband’s Death As A Way To Attack Colin Kaepernick
We are also able to tell a lot about people that really have hated this Nike Campaign. Whether you are burning your shoes or banning the product in your town, you must realize that neither really help you at all. The latter is what a Louisiana Mayor has done and not all agree with him.
Kenner Mayor E. Ben Zahn III’s statement reads:
“Under no circumstances will any Nike product or any product with the Nike logo be purchased for use or delivery at any City of Kenner Recreation facility.”
You can read the whole absurd thing below:
It disappoints me that this is happening in my state. The Mayor of Kenner is trying to ban all Nike apparel and equipment from children’s sports and playgrounds. I would like to have a conversation with him when i return from this European Tour. Not to fuss, just to build. pic.twitter.com/gRCoCN3nQP
— Dee-1; IG @dee1music (@Dee1music) September 9, 2018
This of course comes in the wake of the first week of the NFL season where two players knelt. The NFL couldn’t do anything because their rules are currently at a stand still.
Zahn perhaps felt he needed to give a longer response and defended his statement going onto say:
“I applaud Nike’s message of inclusion and encouragement for everyone to be their best and dream big. But I also recognize that Nike, in its zeal to sell shoes, chose to promote and sell a political message.
In Kenner, like every city, our citizens and our taxpayers cover a wide spectrum of political philosophies and agendas. We must respect all of those agendas and philosophies. So, when a company uses its advertising as its own political megaphone, government should be fair to all of its people and not allow taxpayer dollars to be used to help that company push its own political agenda.”
Other people from Louisiana were a bit outraged by the decision of the Kenner Mayor. New Orleans Mayor, LaToya Cantrell, put out a statement Monday saying:
“As I have emphasized repeatedly since taking office: I believe in the values the people of New Orleans stand for — being inclusive, being accepting and supportive of all our people, committing to social justice, and being intentional about how we make decisions.”
The mandate handed down by Kenner’s mayor is out of step with those values & not reflective of the way we do business. Although @NO_Airport is located in Kenner, it is owned and governed by @CityOfNOLA. Let me assure you that our airport will continue to uphold our City's values. pic.twitter.com/z6tU99ihV7
— Mayor LaToya Cantrell (@mayorcantrell) September 10, 2018
The New Orleans International Airport is located in Kenner but she shut down any notion that the airport would abide by these absurd rules.
Another official, Kenner City Councilman Gregory Carroll, denounced Zahn’s decision with everything he had. He wrote:
This all sounds like easy ammunition to use against Zahn when reelections come around. Carroll also spoke to Buzzfeed News saying that the mayor, “just got caught up in all this stuff and made a move off the cuff.”
Jay Banks a city council member in New Orleans also posted this image on Facebook saying that he felt compelled to buy this shirt.
So overall this move is really backfiring on Zahn. Guess he didn’t know his audience.