Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro weighed in on Nike’s decision to drop its ‘Betsy Ross flag’ sneaker Wednesday, praising the company for making the contentious move.
In an appearance on CBS News, the Democratic presidential candidate agreed with critics of the sneaker that the inclusion of an early design of the American flag on the shoe was racially problematic. He likened the Betsy Ross flag to the Confederate flag as a symbol of prejudice.
“Look, there are a lot of things in our history that are still very painful,” Castro told a CBS host. “The Confederate flag that still flies in some places and is used as a symbol. And I believe that we need to move toward an inclusive America that understands that pain, that doesn’t wipe it away from history in the sense that it still belongs in a museum, or we need to read about it and understand the significance. Because that’s how you learn and make sure that we don’t make the same mistakes in the future, but does not glorify it, does not celebrate it.”
The “Betsy Ross” flag was designed during the Revolutionary War and flew through the late eighteenth-century. The flag is similar to the modern American flag except for that it features thirteen stars arranged in a circle to represent the original colonies. – READ MORE