A Conservative Boycott that Could Have Saved Lives
Colin Kaepernick has been out of the NFL and out of the news for some time. But he’s back. Kaepernick tried out for the NFL again, but no teams signed him. Was the tryout to bring attention back to him for marketing? He made millions as a spokesman for Nike.
I used to buy the shoes. I liked the way they wore and the way they looked. Shorts, shirts, socks, I bought Nike.
I will never buy Nike again.
It was the company’s marketing campaign with Colin Kaepernick that pushed me away. His Defund the Police advocacy made Nike repulsive to me because of his statement that police work is rooted in anti-blackness and white supremacy, labeling police actions as, “…acts of terror…”, and his calls to abolish police.
The first reason is in the overwhelming majority of cases, police officers keep the rest of us safe.
The second reason is, predictably, Defund the Police cost the lives of thousands of black Americans.
According to MacroTrends:
-In 2017 the US murder rate declined by 1.32%
-In 2018 the murder rate declined by 5.9%
-In 2019 the murder rate increased by 1.19%
-In 2020 the murder rate increased by 28.64%
-In 2021 the murder rate increased by another 4.3%
The number of black Americans murdered in 2019 was 7,484. In 2020 during the height of Defund the Police, the number surged to 9,941 and the homicide rate was 34% in Americas’ cities of over 250,000 people. Poor areas suffered the most. None of this was perpetrated by police.
By making Kaepernick one of their spokesmen, Nike made Defund the Police central to their brand. At the time, a 2020 Gallup poll showed 81% of black Americans wanted the same, or more, policing in their communities. Nike executives, from their positions of wealth and privilege, made a marketing decision to ride the Defund the Police wave to politically appeal to a segment of consumers. So, Nike, and other companies that took advantage of Defund the Police, are complicit in these additional 2,457 black lives lost—babies, children, sisters, brothers, parents—all wiped away by a vacuous idea.
When companies take destructive political stances they should suffer consequences. If conservatives had effectively boycotted Nike so that it cost the company billions, it could have made an example of Nike and quashed public acceptance of Defund the Police. Thousands of black lives would have been saved.
Instead, my personal boycott and the boycotts of others like the National Police Association didn’t get any traction. Therefore, since 2020, Nike’s sales have steadily risen, and there has been no lesson taught.
Future conservative boycotts need to learn from and apply the lessons of the Bud Light and Target boycotts. And it would help enormously if there was an entity to coordinate social media messaging and otherwise drive future boycotts. I am not the right person to lead such an operation. I don’t have the skill set. Who could handle this? Any volunteers? Anyone have the juice? Does an organization like this already exist, but I can’t find it? There has to be a group, an association, a cabal—somebody out there who can launch this strategic, high calling.
Just do it.
References:
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/myths-and-realities-understanding-recent-trends-violent-crime
https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/murder-homicide-rate
https://news.gallup.com/poll/316571/black-americans-police-retain-local-presence.aspx
More writing at https://rethink1.substack.com