In an attempt to create hype around an upcoming range of sneakers, Adidas posted a picture of their new “JS Roundhouse Mids” trainers on the Adidas Originals Facebook page on. A sales strap for the shoes reads: “Got a sneaker game so hot you lock your kicks to your ankles?”

But, as they soon learned, they were the only ones who thought accessorising a pair of shoes with slave shackles was a good idea. Over 2 000 Facebook comments have been left so far, with many calling the design “offensive”, “ignorant”, claiming the company has “sunk to new lows” and branding the shoes “slavewear”.

The real “Originals”

Can you imagine all the departments this product has had to go through at the Adidas offices? An NO ONE thought this through properly?

Dr Boyce Watkins, who blogs for Huffington Post, had the following to say:

Shackles… the stuff that our ancestors wore for 400 years while experiencing the most horrific atrocities imaginable, most of which were never documented in the history books and kept away from you in the educational system, all so you would be willing to put shackles on your ankles today and not be so sensitive about it.

While accepting that some would accuse him of overreacting, Dr Watkins, who is a Professor at Syracuse University, adds:

There is always a group of negroes who are more than happy to resubmit themselves to slavery. I am offended by these shoes because there is nothing funny about the prison industrial complex, which is the most genocidal thing to happen to the black family since slavery itself.

[Source: Daily Mail]