A Betsy Ross Flag Story and Our Silly PC Ways

Sometimes the wind blows in from the West, and other times from the East. Sometimes we get arctic blasts and sometimes winds from the South that make us swoon. All this is normal.

That fashions change with the shifting winds is also commonplace as skirts rise and fall in conjunction with the stock market. (That is a Wall Street joke.)

Being PC is a bit more challenging because if your efforts step on toes and are considered offensive, no one cares that it was an innocent mistake. And why is it that PC rules that apply to one do not apply to another?

For the 2019 Fourth of July Nike had created a new Air Max sneaker design featuring the 13-star Betsy Ross flag on the heel. For most Americans this is a patriotic symbol. The special edition Air Max 1 Quick Strike aimed to insert a bit of patriotism into a brand mostly manufactured in China, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.

Evidently, when the design emerged Colin Kaepernick spoke out in opposition to the idea because for some the design reminded them of "a painful history of oppression and racism." (See stories that appeared in the NYTimes and the Wall Street Journal.

The Nike story would have been an incident long buried and forgotten had not some perceptive individuals noticed during the inauguration of Joe Biden that the Betsy Ross flags were prominently displayed as bookends to a set of five historical flags as a backdrop while he was being sworn in. I saw this story at SkillsetMag.com --> Betsy Ross Flag Flies During Biden Inauguration, but There’s No Outrage 

The article begins:

While taking the oath of office on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, President Joe Biden proclaimed that it was time to put aside our differences and to work towards unity. Whether that’s even possible remains to be seen, but one can hope. However, it’s certainly worth noting that he made those remarks with a purported symbol of hate just behind him hanging from the Capitol Building: the Betsy Ross Flag. 

Who decides what is offensive, and when, is apparently arbitrary. You can read the rest of the story here:

https://www.skillsetmag.com/2021/01/21/betsy-ross-flag-biden-inauguration/

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