Nike pulled its planned Air Max 1 USA sneaker after former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick expressed concern over the usage of the Betsy Ross-designed version of the 13-starred American flag.
Wall Street Journal's Khadeeja Safdar and Andrew Beaton reported Monday that Kaepernick "told the company it shouldn't sell a shoe with a symbol that he and others consider offensive."
The Wall Street JournalNike is yanking a sneaker featuring the "Betsy Ross flag" after Colin Kaepernick said he and others consider the symbol to be offensive https://t.co/eKVtPM6oTA
More specifically, Kaepernick was concerned with the fact that the flag came from an era when slavery was legal in the United States (h/t Sports Illustrated's Alaa Abdeldaiem).