(JGR) — There are people all over this country that have been fired up about Nike’s recent announcement to make Colin Kaepernick the face of their 30th Anniversary “Just Do It” campaign. We’ve seen folks burnin’ shoes and pullin’ the logos off of their socks etc. in a show of resistance to wantin’ to understand the real purpose of the protest.
From the very beginnin’ Kaepernick has been clear on why he decided to take a knee to protest police brutality, racial and social injustice. He got advice from one of our military veterans that it would be a respectful way to protest those injustices. Initially Kaepernick sat down durin’ the anthem. However, many ignorant folks in America have chosen to ignore the facts and listen to the changed narrative of Donald Trump and others to further divide this country.
So as I’m watchin’ the ignorance of fools burnin’ Nike apparel I never thought in a million years that an institution of higher learnin’ would openly get into the car with the ignorance of racism. College of Ozarks announced that it is droppin’ Nike.
Here’s what they had to say in a statement, “College of the Ozarks plans to remove all athletic uniforms purchased from Nike or that contain the Nike emblem. Student athletes will no longer wear the brand in response to the company’s new ad campaign.”
They went on to say, “College of the Ozarks has stated its views regarding patriotism, the American flag, and the national anthem.” They also made mention that in October It “revised its contracts for competition in all sports, adding a stipulation that all participating players and coaches show respect for the American flag and national anthem.”
Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! First of all playas…College of Ozarks doesn’t have a Nike endorsement deal! Only real athletic programs have those. Let’s get that straight first. They bought gear from Nike like anybody with money to walk into a store to buy it. There’s a difference. Secondly, to bring up the fact that they are bein’ patriotic, respectin’ the flag and the national anthem is a farce because they’ve yet to make a commitment to diversity on their own campus.
When I visited to the school’s athletic web site they’ve got 11 athletic teams. They’ve got baseball, volleyball, cheer, men’s and women’s golf, cross country, track and basketball. However, they’ve only got two black athletes and they both play basketball. Wheredeydodatat?
Now how it is possible to have an entire athletic department in 2018 and have only two black athletes? That speaks to the ignorance of the administration right there. So are we surprised that this institution would actually make this announcement? They don’t care about police brutality, racial and social injustice because they don’t have to look at very many people that are in the crossfires of these injustices.
Schools that have real athletic departments with real diversity and a commitment to winnin’ would never make that type of move because they would literally be spittin’ in the face of their diverse athletes. We have to applaud schools like the University of Louisville for takin’ John Schnatter’s Papa John’s name off of their stadium and the Center for Free Enterprise inside the business school because they are teachin’ their students that to be racist is wrong. Applaud Purdue for takin’ his name off of one of their buildings as well.
College of Ozarks is literally keepin’ a lie alive by promotin’ a false narrative to their students but nobody cares because they’ve never committed themselves to real diversity in the first place. You have to purposely fill two basketball teams and a track team with no black athletes in this day and age and it’s supposed to be a Christian school. It’s a darn shame that in 2018 we’re still dealin’ with this level of ignorance. Oh…and good luck ever tryin’ to recruit student-athletes of color in the future. Stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
1) Dun: noun – the person in question, dude, guy, etc. It’s whoever I’m talkin’ about and its non-gender specific.
2) Ole boy: noun – the person that I’m currently talkin’ about.
The G is excluded from the endings of all words because the G is near and dear to my heart because I’m from “The G” which is Gary, Indiana. So I only use the G when I’m talkin’ about “The G!”
The caption under the photo isn’t real but its real talk!