Topic: New Native American shoes

[boatsdickson]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20980046/?gt1=10357

Well in line with the sterotypical theme... If I buy a pair of these, wouldnt I also need a power jack to keep my homemade gutrot cool? Maybe a dataport for GPS to find the nearest welfare office or liquor store. 

Take next right for liver damage. Alternate route ahead... long lines at medicaid office...
Thanx GPS...

[ieism]

Making a RUNNING shoe for fat Native Americans, and calling it Air Native?

Either this is a joke, or the people at Nike fail to see the irony. I'm not sure if I would be impressed if I was a Native American; first you steel my grandfathers land, and then you give me an ugly shoe to make me run. Haven't you made them run enough in the past? (no political debate intended). 

I can't wait untill they make a shoe for Mexicans, Air Mex

Perhaps my country (The Netherlands) can start selling Nikes to our former colonies, wouldn't that be nice...
Nike Air Slave.

[Steve F]

It's gotta be a hoax.  If you want slim native Americans, take their shoes away and/or give the moccasins.  I don't recall ever seeing a photo of overweight natives from a century ago, do you? 

[bgfootball67]

Not a hoax, I saw it on the national news this morning and it is all over internet.  The shoes do not look that bad....

[ieism]

Yeah, but they had to run after buffalo's. Some dudes in the 19th century shot all the buffalo's, so what are they supposed to run after now....frisbees?

Although I like the moccasins idea better than the Air Native already, I think I have a better plan..

The thinnest people in the world are obviously Ethiopians & Somalians.
An overwhelming percentage of them would be more than happy to move to the USA permanently. That would leave rather a large patch of land empty.
I'm not exactly sure how many Native Americans are left, but I think if they all move to their new African prairies, they will have as much land per person as they started out with a few hundred years ago.

It's pretty easy when you think about it; you move the fat people to where the thin people live, and vice versa. You don't need special shoes for that.

[UnCrash]

Actually it's not a hoax, but is a publicity~marketing move.

It is true that many native americans have trouble with the shoes available and order them extra wide as their average foot is 3 sizes wider and is taller in the arch.

Nike noticed this when working with some American indeginous athletes, as they usually customize their shoes for top tier athletes that wear them.

I'm not a huge fan of Nike, but one should actually read the article before bashing them.  They are selling these specially designed shoes at wholesale prices and donating all profit from sales to Native organizations.

All in all it's a cheap publicity stunt which actually benefits Native Americans.  

[ieism]

Have you guys also seen the design for a Native American mask from Nike. They think this will spark a new interest in tribal dances, and burn of some extra fat while keeping their culture alive.

Nike Air Powwow:

[ieism]

Oh, and I did read the article. I thought the reasoning behind it made even less sense than then name of the shoe...

"an effort aiming at promoting physical fitness in a population with high obesity rates."

Are you out of your minds? A shoe doesn't make you healthier!!! I have 5 pairs of sportshoes, and I never run.

I'll prove it with a simple fact:
The United States has the highest rates of obesity in the developed world.
The United States sport shoes sector has been booming for two decades, in fact most current brands are of American origin.

[Uncle Ernie]

I can't believe the outright racism I'm reading here.
Very disappointing.  Shameful.
It reflects a lack of empathy and education that should be embarrassing to the participants of this post.

Just my humble opinion.

[DammitDan]

I can't believe the outright racism I'm reading here.
Very disappointing.  Shameful.
It reflects a lack of empathy and education that should be embarrassing to the participants of this post.

Just my humble opinion.

+1

[ieism]

I want to appologize if anyone feels offended, I was merely joking. 

I'm half Asian half white, my girlfriend (for 7 years) is black and my stepdad (who raised me for ten years) is Native American. I'm not saying this means I can say whatever the I want, but I might be less sensitive to remarks or stereotypes about race than some people.
If you read carefully, i'm not just taking the piss at Native Americans. I also mocked Mexicans, Americans and Asians. 

Again I'm sorry if I hurt someones feelings. I'll edit the post myself in half an hour if it makes you feel better.

[Uncle Ernie]

I'm not mad at you.  I'm mad at white Americans and their hubris.  The ones who say "we've" come so far.  Like George BushI who went to Penny's to buy a pair of socks to show voters he was one of "them".  The people who think middleclass America is anyone who makes more than $200K a year, when so many are lucky to make $25K a year.  ($10hr is really good pay here)  The rest are stupid and lazy.  I'm mad at everyone who have no sense of history, but are full of a sense of entitlement.  The people who shot buffalo for sport from trains.  Treated Indians and black folks worse than their dogs, and then have the gall to accuse someone of acting like an animal.  Humans act way worse than animals.  A Congress that creates a useless tool like Medicare Plan D because they have good bennies for life, so what do they care?  Good white Christians who, in private, still joke; "I love blacks. I think everyone should have a few".  OK... time to end the rant before it goes too far.

Bottom line; If you have to say, "But I'm not a racist", you're a racist. 
Racism is born from fear that grows from lack of education and experience.
It grows in the light of intentional stupidity.  (I differentiate between ignorance and stupidity.  Stupid people insist on staying that way and seem to be proud of it)  I imagine people who put others down do it because they feel small on the inside, and are afraid to admit it- even to themselves. 
Those people are dangerous.  And they are legion.

[Steve F]

I can't believe the outright racism I'm reading here.
Very disappointing.  Shameful.
It reflects a lack of empathy and education that should be embarrassing to the participants of this post.

Just my humble opinion.

Should be.......

[ieism]

I agree with you Ernie...

But it's not a very optimistic view ..
Americans have made mistakes in the past. They sometimes lacked respect for other races and cultures, and did some pretty stupid stuff in general. They still make mistakes today, but it's human nature.
Don't feel so bad about Bush/Americans, there are very few countries/states that have not made the same mistakes at one point in their history. It will be forgiven by the next generation most of the time.
I really dislike Bush too, but that doesn't mean I have to hate all Americans. If you've voted for the guy that's fine with me too. If you're a soldier in Irak having to shoot people to stay alive, bad luck, I hope you learn something from it. 
Cruelty, war, killing, racism, slavery...All that stuff has been going on for as long as humaninty, it's not anybody's fault.

I don't think racism comes from fear alone. I agree that a lot of racism comes from people who have no experience with other races and cultures.
A lot of times it's also jealousy, or sometimes even hate. That's fine with me too... If you think it's benificial to hate a guy because he's not white the jokes on you. I've seen racists of all colours, and i've seen good people of all colours. I try to avoid the first, and make friends with the last.
When I see somebody in the subway looking at me like i'm a piece of $hit because i'm not the same colour as him, I look him straight into the eye and give him a nod and a smile. 99% of the time he'll smile back, and I can see him thinkin: "hey, this one's not such an a**hole" .

ivar

[old750]

Have you guys also seen the design for a Native American mask from Nike. They think this will spark a new interest in tribal dances, and burn of some extra fat while keeping their culture alive.

Nike Air Powwow:

I saw Brian Jungen's Nike shoes in person. He is an amazing artist. He also made massive whale skeletons with plastic lawn chairs which looked so incredible. Kind of ironic that Nike actually made shoes for natives. I love how they say the shoes have a "a culturally specific look". WTF does that mean? They could have at least made them suede color.

Why not make shoes for poor chinese children who work 12 hour days with no pee breaks in shoe factories? THAT would be funny!

[Rocking-M]

just one thing Ernie, having grown up with Black folks and Indians I can talk about it,

the most racist people I've run into these past few years were either,
Black or of questionable Indian descent. So I hope your not taking aim at
white folks as being racist alone?

[Uncle Ernie]

I know you're sensitive about that, for some reason.  I guess it seems more egregious because white folks always seem to have the power over people of colour. >That said, when I lived in San Francisco, I noticed that spanish-speaking folks would make it a point to describe themselves by their country of origin; Guatemalan, Chilean, etc.  I finally found out that Mexicans are the low wrung on the ladder and Castilians are the top.  Anyone "better" than a Mexican was sure to point that out.  It was quite a revelation to realize that it seems everyone has to feel better/superior than someone else. 

And- I'm considering what else has been said by Ivan.  If I may extrapolate- there has always been killing, slavery and people who buy women and children for slaves (as well as the people who sell them, including the children's parents), women have always been mutilated and/or raped,  Genocide has always been attempted (who knows- perhaps occasionally successful), there has always been hunger and "haves" and "have nots", etc.  It was just the natives of this land's stupidity that they didn't kill everything that got off a boat.  But, the invaders superior firepower and diseases would have eventually won, anyway.  And, governments and the people that work them and the people who vote them in (well- in a democracy anyway)- or the people who do not rise up in rebellion against tyrants- will always be self-servng and attempt to cover up corruption. 
All this has gone before, and now I shall consider that it always will.

Perhaps the new battle lines will be between religious right-wing extremists.  For instance, homosexuality has always been around, but I don't think the hate for them has been as virulent as it is now.  Christians sure spanked the middle East during the Crusades, so now perhaps we're experiencing payback.  Payback's a #$%*, ain't it?!

I suppose I should "sit down in front" and watch the show in peace.  I guess the plot never really changes, does it. 
This post has been very thought provoking.  Very.