by today's Urban Chameleon contributor & Editor-in-chief, HaJ
I was invited to participate in Huffington Post's live video chat hosted by Marc Lamont Hill
discussing the Adidas "slave sneaker" controversy. You can watch by
clicking on the link.
However, my written commentary may better reflect the points I was hoping to make.
- Initial Reaction to the Sneaker - When you look at this what are your thoughts?
1.
I almost drowned in tears of laughter. Did someone really say let's make a
"slave sneaker?" Where the hell were the Black executives at Adidas
during the proof of concept meeting? Please don't tell me they got the -itis
and missed the meeting after indulging in the Burger King crispy chicken wrap.
Wait a minute, has this slave sneaker revealed a bigger issue --- that Adidas
has nobody on staff who is a descendent of a slave to say, "Hey guys, too
soon?"
- What Does It Mean to Have Shackles On Sneakers Targeted To The Urban Community
2. Wait, what are we defining as "targeted? I've heard
two different narratives for the concept behind this design. 1) "This
sneaker is so hot it must be chained to your ankle." 2) The designer feels
like a slave to the fashion industry." Regardless both ideas deserve a
good lynching. On the other hand, there is great irony that the "urban community" would have such a visceral reaction to a sneaker. Why is that? Because "we" are slaves to our sneakers. How many times have we heard a story about someone getting shot (or at least Tasered because someone's sneaker's got stepped on. Hell, I've almost shot someone myself (with a water gun of course). Now that's commentary I could have gotten behind the designer on. In fact, the slave sneaker should have been a crispy white pair of Jordan’s with a foot a print on the toe and spots of blood representing the fallen homies.
- Is This Racial Insensitivity?
3.
You have to be sensitive to be insensitive. We as Black people are
programmed to be confrontational about race because our history includes
fighting for basic human rights because of our race. White people have the luxury of
coming up with designs like slave shackles without it having any kind of
stigmatization on their identity. Wait, am I being racist assuming the slave
sneaker designer is white? Regardless, my people...Black people crave that kind
of freedom...but wait, a lot of us would then be out of work (including
myself). What would there be to complain about? Never mind. Racism may be doing
more for the economy than government.
- Should We Just Let It Go? - (Do we see race in everything?)
4. Let it go? Let it go? Hell no!!! (That is until the next
racially charged news line) Of course we see race in everything. Our freedom
was built on it. However, I sometimes think it's us perpetuating racism. We've
become a reactionary culture instead of a proactive one. We for some reason
continue to seek white's people's approval (even subconsciously). We complain
there are not enough of us in this or that instead of building our own systems
that work for us. Imagine if we spent less energy complaining and more
creating. Did I get too deep?
- Does Intention Even Matter?
5.
Only to the person who had the intention. For everyone else perspective is
reality. Does it matter if the designer was using this monster image as
inspiration? How many Black people would believe him even if he pinky swore?
People only care about how they're affected and maybe as long as they do we
might not ever be able to have a progressive conversation.
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