Sep 7, 2018 4 min read

The folks who have been up in arms over some NFL players kneeling or otherwise protesting during the playing of the national anthem have been triggered anew by Nike’s decision to make erstwhile San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick one of the faces of its 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign.

Kaepernick, of course, was at the forefront of a movement to draw attention to police brutality against people of color and inequality in this country. He last played in the NFL in 2016 and is involved in litigation against the NFL, alleging that team owners colluded in an effort to keep him from playing again.

“We believe Colin is one of the most inspirational athletes of this generation, who has leveraged the power of sport to help move the world forward,” Gino Fisanotti, vice president of brand for Nike in North America, told ESPN.

Others – many others – did not feel the same way and filled social media with promises to boycott Nike. Some even went so far as to cut up their Nike clothing and burn their sneakers.

Of course, there will be people on the other side of this issue who might well increase their spending on Nike products because of the company’s continued alliance with Kaepernick.

President Trump, who has been hammering the NFL over the anthem issue for the past two years, said in an interview with The Daily Caller website that choosing Kaepernick as a face of the “Just Do It” anniversary campaign was “a terrible message that they’re sending.”

But Trump then uncharacteristically shifted gears, saying, “As much as I disagree with the Colin Kaepernick endorsement, in another way – I mean, I wouldn’t have done it. In another way, it is what this country is all about, that you have certain freedoms to do things that other people think you shouldn’t do, but I personally am on a different side of it.”

The NFL, which has a longstanding business relationship with Nike, supplier of game-day apparel worn by players and coaches for all 32 league franchises, issued the following statement: “The National Football League believes in dialogue, understanding and unity. We embrace the role and responsibility of everyone involved with this game to promote meaningful, positive change in our communities. The social issues that Colin and other professional athletes have raised deserve our attention and action.”

Nike’s shares were down about 3 percent on the stock market Tuesday, but meanwhile, a Yahoo Finance report said millennials were snapping up shares of the company. When all is said and done, after the initial furor has died down, it’s unlikely this flap over Kaepernick will have much of an effect on Nike’s bottom line.

Just as there are people who will have nothing further to do with Nike, there have been folks on the other side of the political spectrum who have refused for years to do business with companies such as Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby, and both of them seem to be doing just fine.

From the beginning, the protest launched by Kaepernick and others has been miscast by those criticizing the effort. It has never been about disrespecting the flag, the anthem or America’s military men and women. It’s about calling attention to injustice, plain and simple.

You don’t have to like the protests, or Kaepernick, or Nike. That’s OK. But remember, there are millions of people in this country who are just fine with all three, and they are every bit the “good American” that you are. Getting past issues such as this and coming together to tackle the very real challenges facing the country? Just do that.