Adidas just recently came out with shoes with shackles attached to them…bizarre right? The negative image portrayed from these shoes is pretty obvious with the link to our history of African-American slavery.  These JS Roundhouse Mids have created conflict not only because of the shoe’s look, but because it appears that Adidas is trying to worm their way into the Air Jordan industry. With success, the major gym shoe market holders, Nike and Reebok have forced the cancellation of this specific shoe. The writer of this article, Jason Whitlock claims that Adidas is attempting to “ride the wave of prison/hip-hop culture” by gaining a fan base from inner city youth because they are the key to controlling the gym shoe market. With that said, Adidas denies the slavery connection, stating that these shoes are meant to appeal to incarcerated men as a symbol of pride. Yet, these shackles seem to be overwhelming and inappropriate to the public eye.

What do you think?  Adidas’ shackle shoes fire up a controversy