Poll: Adidas Slave Shoes

[Scarim Coral]

I don't find it offensive but I do find those shoes to be a stupid idea for a new fashion trend/ style.

 

[Furioso]

I don't think they are that offensive, but I do think that this is the type of thing that you would have to be stupid not to realize that people WOULD think it's offensive. This is the type of thing where it is laughably easy for people to cry out "racist!" even if it really isn't. They do look god awful though

 

[zidine100]

Funny that, i just thought the designer was into bondage.

although it is kind of fitting for Adidas as the people who made them are nearly slaves as it is, see sweat shops.

 

[Macgyvercas]

I'm like Honey Badger on this one...Don't care!

 

[zehydra]

Maybe if they weren't orange they'd almost look hot (only because of the implications of bondage sex lol)


Aside from bondage fetishes, meh? Nah I think the slavery thing is an over-sensitive reaction.

 

[Mournful Crow]

I think that people are so overly fucking sensitive about every little thing. These shackle shoes are tacky as hell, and Are the fugliest things I had ever seen in a while, but seriously? Offensive? Offensive to taste, perhaps, but other than being a major eyesore, I see nothing wrong with them...

 

[the abyss gazes also]

I find it offensive for unrelated reasons.

https://www.oxfam.org.au/explore/workers-rights/adidas

As dry and downplayed as that link is, Adidas HAS been caught in child labor scandals in the past, and it made me pretty ticked to see these shoes with that in mind.

When I read the thread title, something more like this sprang to mind.

But....

Do I think someone at Adidas said, "Hey, lets piss off and on black folk and make something racist!"
NO, I don't.

Do I think that they maybe didn't think it through with all it implications.
YES.

And that is where most people are at (at least in America (only lived in USA and haven't really traveled much to know about true feelings elsewhere) when it comes to racism. You have small pockets, like the KKK, that are blatantly racist, but there is still a lot of subtle not intentional, or just careless racism that exists.

Is this the most egregious example. Far from it. With this particular example what makes my brain hurt most is who thought just the idea was good enough to go into production. They look stupid and hideous.

 

[Jaeke]

They're not offensive, they're just hilariously stupid. If anyone got caught wearing that 'round here they would be reminded about it till the day they die, especially by me.

 

[zarix2311]

These are just...really, really dumb. Why would you want to wear these? The chains don't have a single function. What? Are they afraid we're all so stupid that we'll lose our shoes if they're not shackled to us? I don't know how they think these will look appealing, but whatever the case the marketing department got fucked over.

 

[Kyber]

Slaves were whipped with a whip in ye' old days, still they sell whips in sex shops all the time, so why cant they sell sneakers with shackles? for some other reason then they are fugly

 

[Wintermoot]

looks like something a shonen anime hero would wear and not something real people would wear.

 

[the abyss gazes also]

2nd: YOU may not feel the effects of slavery today, but who are you to speak for every person in the US today?

Someone who's right. Because like I've pointed out three times now and will do for the fourth time, slavery no longer exists in the US, so anyone who claims to 'feel the effects of slavery' probably needs to have his head examined, since they're sensing things that aren't there.

If slavery from back then doesn't have anymore influence today, then why is this shoe-stuff even an issue?

Because some black people in the US feel really important, and have formed their identity around a huge victim complex with pretty heavy racist undertones.

Which is why all sane people ignore them if they try to stir up a fuss about nothing like in this case.

So some questions:

1) Do you agree or disagree with the idea that there isn't a major difference in the ability of a person with darker skin compared to someone with lighter skin?

2) If not for echoes of slavery and racism than how do you explain the disproportionate amount of black men in the prison system as compared to white men?

 

[Broady Brio]

Why are we bringing prison into fashion. First there's this. [http://artoftrolling.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/yahoo-answers-troll-untitled23.jpg]

Then this onesie crap, [http://www.mixmag.net/sites/default/files/imagecache/article/images/onepiece-onesie-mixmag-fashion.jpg] resembling jumpsuits.

Now the shackles? Fashion is stupid. Or even more than before.

 

[Aurora Firestorm]

Yes, let's just look at anything that might symbolise something and assume it does! [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory]

Logic!

This all over. Look, just because someone thinks shackles look cool or badass or whatever, doesn't mean that they're promoting slavery. Really, people. *Lighten the hell up.* There are bigger problems in this world to tackle. Go read the SMBC comic on "I'm offended" vs. "It's offensive."

What do you say to all the chains that people hang off pants sometimes? Is that a symbol of slavery? What about spikes on clothes, does that glorify violence and harm?

I will say, though, that orange was a ridiculous color to choose, and thus the shackles are pretty hideous. But I could think of ways that you could use shackles in clothes that might look awesome.

 

[Just_A_Glitch]

Man, make those black and metal, and remove the Adidas logo, and I would totally rock those at goth night at my local club.

But goth night excluded, these are dumb. I don't think they're offensive. Just dumb.

 

[Shadow flame master]

looks like something a shonen anime hero would wear and not something real people would wear.

Fucking. Agreed.

 

[teebeeohh]

i really thought this was gonna be a rant about the conditions for the people making our shoes.
i am happy it's just one of those "every side in this is kinda dumb" sort of situation

 

[gideonkain]

I can't believe it's actually reached this point.
Where hip hop culture (and therefore it's clothes) has become so clueless, so vacuous, that it's forgotten about the slave trade?

Maybe you can tell us what the point is of endlessly dragging on and on about a very small event that occurred centuries ago and which nobody alive today has witnessed?

And yes, very fucking small, because there's much bigger historical events with a much larger impact today, like the First World War.

Very fucking small?! 618,000 soldiers died. You wouldn't say World War I was small because World War II had more casualties.

And besides numbers there are also the huge social ideal shifts that changed the very nature of the United States.

And it didn't happen "centuries" ago, it happened 150 years ago.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

I though this thread was going to be about child work-shops, instead I'm wondering who the hell would buy these ridiculous shoes and who at Adidas thought this was a good idea. I mean they look stupid and they must of at least had half a clue shackles on shoes would immediately draw parallels to slavery or chain gangs. Although given the type of people I know that buy Adidas trainers if its the latter may just be Adidas appealing to their target audience

 

[Souleks]

My first thought was that they were like prison shackles(Because your that much of a gangsta)
I guess I could see them relating to slavery however either way they look dumb and I will laugh at anyone I see wearing them.