What does the City of Kenner have to do with Nike and the brand's controversial ad campaign featuring out-of-work, vastly overpaid ex-NFL Quarterback Colin Kaepernick?
Before the other day, not much.
But, that has all changed.
After Nike glorified Kaepernick, who was best known for two things: being a mediocre NFL Quarterback with a losing career record and leading a protest of the National Anthem to draw attention to himself, I mean, social injustice (or was it police brutality against blacks), Kenner Mayor Ben Zahn fired off a Memo to Kenner's Director of Parks & Recreation stating:
"Effective immediately all purchases made by any booster club operating at any Kenner Recreation Facility, for wearing apparel, shoes, athletic equipment, and/or any athletic product must be approved by the Director of Parks & Recreation, or his designee. Under no circumstances will any Nike product or any product with the Nike logo be purchased for use or delivery at any City of Kenner Recreation Facility."
When I first read the memo, I didn't think much about it.
For starters, the City of Kenner provides booster clubs, 11 across the city, with a whopping total of $4,000 each in tax dollars so, the booster clubs aren't going to be, and shouldn't be, buying any athletic equipment anyway. All equipment should be purchased by the City of Kenner already for safety, insurance and consistency purposes anyway.
Second, the primary purposes of the booster clubs are to assist parents that can't afford to get their children into athletic programs, raise funds for extra activities (travel to tournaments, etc.) and assist in upkeep of facilities.
Aside from possibly purchasing a pair of cleats or athletic shoes for a child, a booster club shouldn't be purchasing Nike products anyway especially since Nike typically aren't the most inexpensive brand out there.
Like I said, I didn't think much about the Memo.
Then, the Memo hit social media.
Soon, everybody and their brother had an opinion about the Mayor's Memo and much of it was negative.
From former Kenner resident Donna Brazile (who, thankfully, is a FORMER Kenner resident) to radical racist Shaun King (not the ex-Tulane and NFL Quarterback), everyone it seemed were piling on Kenner.
It was interesting to me that, a blatant racist like Shaun King, who has promoted the Black Lives Matter movement, was calling the Mayor of Kenner a racist and calling our city racist.
Look, I've known Ben Zahn for over 12 years. During that time, I've called him a great many things (and he's called me some things as well), but "racist" has never been one of them (for either of us).
Does racism exist? Of course and, sadly, racism exists in Kenner. But the City of Kenner taken as a whole is not racist. We can't be. Kenner's population is about 50% White, 25% Black and 24% Hispanic. We are not a typical, White-centric suburb.
Are there racists in Kenner? Yes to that too. But, I don't count Ben Zahn in that number.
If you've listened to my radio show, you know that I've been disgusted that race has been brought into the Nike/Kaepernick discussion, whether it was from Nike itself (which, clearly knew and was overjoyed at the free publicity it received from the controversy), from many in the White community who truly believe that Kaepernick was disrespectful to our flag and our national anthem, or from those in the minority community fired up by racists like Shaun King who believe that it is good for our country to be divided because the can use racial division or President Trump or any of a thousand other excuses to polarize us and prop themselves up as "leaders".
Newsflash to Shaun King and Colin Kaepernick: James Meredith was a leader. Rosa Parks was a leader. 6-year-old Ruby Bridges was a leader.
Unlike Kaepernick, who earned $39 Million in salary from the NFL plus millions more in endorsements (including money he earned from Nike for the past two years as his unemployment compensation - wouldn't you like to earn over $1 Million for being unemployed?), Meredith, Parks, Bridges and countless others, of every gender, ethnicity and race, "sacrificed everything" for what they believed in.
But, I've wasted enough time talking about hypocrites like Shaun King and Colin Kaepernick - let's get back to Kenner.
District 1 Councilman Gregory Carroll was critical of the Mayor's Memo. In a Facebook post, Councilman Carroll said:
"Last night a disturbing memorandum was circulated that the City of Kenner Mayor E. Ben Zahn wrote to the Kenner Recreation Director directing him, regarding Booster Club Purchases, banning Nike products, usage or delivery of all Kenner Recreation Facilities. I was no made aware of this decision beforehand and it is direct contradiction of what I stand for and what the City of Kenner should stand for.
I am 100% AGAINST this decision. I will meet with the Mayor and other council members in an effort to rescind this directive. I will keep the citizens of Kenner and the Greater New Orleans area informed as we move forward."
Should Mayor Zahn have entered this fray? Probably not. The City of Kenner has far bigger problems than fanning the flames of racially-charged bigots looking for a fight, or an excuse.
Is Ben Zahn entitled to have an opinion about Nike and Kaepernick? Of course, he's an American just like you or I.
But, he's also the Mayor of Kenner and as such his opinion, whether personal or not, reflects upon the city.
Besides, what does Kenner gain from this? How does the Zahn Memo help attract businesses or families to Kenner?
Clearly, Kenner has already lost and Zahn has lost too.The only thing left is damage control.
And, for what? $44,000 given to booster clubs?
Hardly seems like a fair exchange to me.
