Running Scared from Sneaker Culture
posted by Ja'Shawn Steward-Johnson | May 4, 2016 | In OpinionLast year, GQ, the popular men’s magazine, found that approximately 1,200 people a year die over sneakers. That number doesn’t include the families of the victims (many of them relatively young) and the perpetrators, the number surely rises if you count people who are affected by all of this. Just four months ago, on Christmas Eve, a teen was shot by police in Charlotte after a fight broke out at a mall over sneakers, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Sneaker culture is real, and it is only growing. There are also incidents where people don’t end up killed, but young teens do end up facing prison for robberies and theft of Jordan sneakers. In one recent attempted theft on Feb. 12 in New York City, a teen who was trying to steal Air Jordans had his arm ripped off of his body after being hit by the SUV of the owner, according to Huffington Post.
The face of the sneaker culture, and the $4 billion market accompanying it, is none other than Michael Jordan. Jordan sneakers hold a 58% share of the basketball sneaker market. Jordan shoes have become iconic in both basketball culture and urban culture, although it is definitely not limited to that. Unfortunately, Jordan shoes have become the symbol for sneaker violence and, as a result, Michael Jordan is also the face of sneaker violence.
As the face of the sneaker culture and the face of the shoes that so many kids lose their lives over, many people have criticized Michael Jordan for not speaking out against sneaker violence.
Michael Jordan has always been criticized for being more money conscientious than human conscientious. He was criticized in the past for being apolitical. And his response to that was: “Republicans buy shoes, too.” He has also been criticized for not commenting on the 1992 L.A. Riots and the violence in Chicago among the youth.
For better or worse, Michael Jordan has yet to respond to children dying over his $200 basketball sneakers. In 2002, the Jordan XVIIs became the first basketball shoe to retail for at least $200.
Jordan and Nike, in cahoots, have managed to inflate the sneaker market or to masterfully create hype and demand for their sneakers. The Jordan brand has begun “remastering” retro Jordan sneakers, resulting in a price hike and heightened demand.
The supply of Jordan sneakers notoriously never meets the demand for the shoes. People wait days (plural) at sneaker retailers for certain Jordans to release. The crazed demand has led for limited edition Jordan sneakers to be resold commonly in the four-figure range and some sneakers have even reached five-figures. However, it should be noted that Nike has made strides to protect consumers. RSVPs and the raffle ticket system has tried to reduce the violence that occur during release days. However, Michael Jordan remains silent despite the fact that he is a larger-than-life figure for the sneaker community and whose words still hold extraordinary weight.
This year, the Charlotte Hornets made the playoffs in their second season since losing the “Bobcats” moniker and returning back to the “Hornets” moniker. In 2010, Michael Jordan became the majority owner of the team, making him the first former NBA player to do so. He also became the first former NBA player to be a billionaire. He has achieved such feats, in part, due to his popular Jordan sneakers. Jordan brand sneakers, a subsidiary of Nike, generates $2.5 billion a year and Jordan, himself, earns about 100 million dollars a year off of his sneaker royalties alone.
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