New Shirt Takes a Direct Shot at Kaepernick and His Hate for the Flag
This post was written in partnership with Patriot Depot, a sister company of The Western Journal.
A new T-shirt is taking direct aim at Colin Kapernick and Nike’s protest of the Betsy Ross flag. With an unapologetic 13-star flag front and center and the words “Just Stand For It” right underneath, the message is clear:
And the history behind the flag itself proves just how little Kaepernick knows about it.
On a cold March evening nearly 250 years ago, a detachment of British soldiers marched to the Boston Custom House.
An angry group of colonists had coalesced, and the troops were there to keep order by any means necessary. After an exchange of insults and physicals blows, a British musket fired.
The carnage that followed would be forever known as the Boston Massacre.
The first person killed was a free African-American man named Crispus Attucks. His death was the first in the American Revolution.
When tensions boiled over years later, a delegation of men including General George Washington are said to have visited a little-known Philadelphia seamstress named Betsy Ross. General Washington wanted a flag to unite the military and country under a single banner.
And boy, did Ross deliver.
Although historians dispute its origin, the “Betsy Ross flag” quickly became a powerful symbol in a fledgling America.
Patriots of all colors and creeds quickly rallied behind the flag. In one continental regiment, a foreign officer estimated that at least one quarter of the troops were black.
These fighters were highly praised, with the same foreign officer commenting that these men were “the most neatly dressed, the best under arms, and the most precise in its maneuvers.”
The flag would remain a symbol of America for over 200 years, even making a major appearance during the second inauguration of President Barack Obama.
Now, Nike and Kaepernick have demeaned and insulted the very flag that so many valiant patriots fought under.
The sportswear giant infamously pulled a sneaker sporting a version of the Betsy Ross flag after Kaepernick allegedly intervened, asserting that the shoe was displaying a racist symbol.
The shoe’s removal sparked an instant backlash. Betsy Ross sneakers that leaked through to market were soon selling on eBay and other outlets for hundreds, and even thousands of dollars.
Fortunately, not all American companies are more preoccupied with placating a multimillionaire sports star than offering people a high-quality patriotic item.
The “Just Stand For It” shirt is a fun and patriotic way to give Kaepernick and Nike a taste of their own medicine with a little protest of your own.
A few years ago, a historic American flag would not be considered a racist symbol by many.
Now, just the simple act of wearing one is a form of protest that drops you right in the middle of the culture war.
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