I know it’s taken me quite some time to respond to the whole “Nike endorsing Kaepernick” fiasco. I’ve needed tint to watch everything unfold and soak in the campaign. Here are some things to think about.

1. Burning your Nike apparel is a horrific waste of both clothing and energy. There are people out there who would kill to have a fresh pair of shoes, shirts, shorts, sweats, etc. Y’all don’t want your Nikes? Give them to clothing drives, give them to the homeless. There are tons of homeless veterans out there in dire need of clothes. You know, the ones y’all claim to stand for when the flag is displayed? I get y’all are trying to send a message, but it’s a wasteful way to do it.

2. There are a lot of people who claim that there are brave men and woman who sacrificed more that Kaepernick did. Sacrifice is relative depending on what stage you are in your life. Sacrifice could be a teenager foregoing a party to take care of a grandparent. It could be a parent putting aside any personal ambitions to allow their child to peruse theirs. Sacrifice could also be someone serving their country. Sacrifice can also be a QB leaving the NFL and foregoing fat paychecks to send a message. Sacrifice could be a parent losing sleep to ensure their child sleeps. No one sacrifice is bigger than the other. We have no business belittling one’s own sacrifice just because it doesn’t fit our norms of what sacrifice is.

3. Did y’all actually watch the damn commercial? That is probably one of my favorite commercials, and it speaks to me on such a personal level. The commercial is about dreams, and how no dream is too big, or too crazy. I pity the people who have their undergarments in bunch over this, because the message is quite stellar.

4. If y’all really cared about veterans as much as y’all claimed you did, you’d be about your words. Help the homeless, donate those clothes you don’t want, elect officials who won’t gut veteran benefits. Elect officials that won’t start pointless wars. You can talk, and talk, and talk, but at some point, you need to be about your ideals.

For a country that claims to be big and bad, we seem to want to freak out over the stupidest shit. Then again, worry is as relative as sacrifice. Some worry they may not have enough food to make it through the week, some worry they’ll get bombed tomorrow. We’re overly privileged enough as a country where we can worry about the big ol’ milk chocolate football player who kneeled for the flag and now represents a clothing brand. This whole thing has become incredibly overblown, and that energy can be better expended.

Stay classy…

 

Flemmings Beaubrun is an avid gamer and lover of music. When not working, Flemmings likes to spend his time whipping up dank beats for the masses. He also spends his weekends thrift shopping for rare video games and obscure electronics. Other times he’s in front of a TV with a giant bowl of cereal enjoying shows from the 90s.