Nike pulls Betsy Ross flag shoes after Kaepernick
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The flag of the 13 American colonies has been appropriated by some white nationalists as representing a time when the U.S. had slavery.
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My Betsy Ross Flag
The shoe design drew concern from Kaepernick because the former NFL star said the early flag has connections to slavery, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.
In recent years, the Betsy Ross flag has been appropriated by the white nationalist group Identity Evropa and the Ku Klux Klan, who use it to represent a time when slavery was legal in the United States.
"Nike has chosen not to release the Air Max 1 Quick Strike Fourth of July as it featured an old version of the American flag,” Nike said in a statement to CNBC.
The company added in a later statement that the decision to pull the shoe was "based on concerns that it could unintentionally offend and detract from the nation’s patriotic holiday."