Let's talk about shoes...

Please stop buying overpriced Nike shoes

 Did you know someone was killed recently over a pair of Jordans?  

Please, black community, can we please stop falling for this overpriced scam that is in the form of Air Jordans. I never understood the sway of wearing these overpriced and over-designed shoes had on black teens. I remember people looked at you like a king if you got the new Air Jordans. 200 dollar! The most I will pay for in shoes is around 40 bucks and I keep my shoes forever. I think my current shoes are around 10 years old both pairs.

That's always made me an outcast in the black community because I refused to buy any Nike over 40 bucks and never wore too many name-brand shirts of jackets, which in turn guaranteed me NOT getting any pussy.

I'm not dissing shoes all the way, because I'd love to get my hands on some of those future Nike shoes from Back to the Future II. I just feel the way we go stark raving mad for shoes is troubling. 

 

As the video stated above, a writer for The Root attempted to defend this action of buying overpriced shoes. I actually find defending this misguided practice troubling. I thought the Root was better than this. I though I'd take a stab at her defense against the practice of worshiping shoes. 

The sneakers are art: Okay, fine but massed-produced shoes sort of lose their value when they're made for shitty wages in foreign countries. And, as a rule, do art collectors shoot and rob other art collectors on a daily basis like we do? And, I am sorry, Diana, don't use Puffy as your argument. I also have a problem with people buying these shoes when many of the buyers don't have much else going for them. This is part of a bigger picture problem. We don't need to buy everything for the name brand.

Retail prices are the cheapest option: Yes, fine, but that still doesn't explain the super markup on these things. According to many reports, it only takes 16 dollars to make a pair of Air Jordans in China. Many of these retro shoes go as far as 300 at retail price. Where is the outrage in the black community over this shit? Okay, so you make this a point to mention that getting a limited edition shoe in a store comes out cheaper, but it doesn't make it right. Do we as a community put as much effort into education or other things like we do for fashion?

The sneaker resale market is bookoo rich.  : The joke is on you, Jack. Because Nike makes a lot of money off these shoes more than you would.