Nike: Don't blame us, we just make this stuff.
After Jacqueline Keeler helped organize a protest over Nike's manufacture of MLB-branded clothing emblazoned with Cleveland Indians' mascot Chief Wahoo, Nike put out an official response that pretty much says they don't have a choice: They have to keep making this stuff.
Here's Nike's statement, as reported in Indian Country Today:
They're saying it's not their fault. It's the system. They'd stop if they could, but they can't.
The thing is this: Yes, it is too their fault. Nike is the company manufacturing these clothes. They decided to do this. They courted MLB. They probably put in a lot of effort to win this contract. They knew what they were doing.
Now they want to tell us they can't stop, because contract.
Listen, contracts contain very clear language regarding what happens when they're broken. That language is there to give everyone an out. Granted, it's typically an expensive enough out to discourage both sides from reneging, but it's there. Whatever that penalty is, we gotta assume it's significantly less than the $25.3 Billion dollar earnings they reported last year. It's probably less than they pay Jordan or Woods. Whatever it is, they can afford it. Nike could break the contract, pay the penalty and write it off as the price you pay to buy out of racism.
Let's assume that's not going to happen, though. Instead, let's consider another way they could stop selling Chief Wahoo if they really wanted to.
Contracts expire and have to be renewed, and revising a contract's terms at renewal time is pretty standard practice. When that happens, Nike has a chance to negotiate their way to a solution. They can simply refuse to renew the contract until this issue is addressed, and they can publicly state their intent to do so now.
They don't have to keep producing Chief Wahoo apparel, they choose to.
And they choose to because they're making good money selling MLB gear, so let's keep this conversation honest. Nike chooses not to stop making Chief Wahoo merch because they don't want to lose the entire MLB revenue stream. This isn't about whose fault it is, or what other people are doing about it.
This is about Nike enthusiastically embracing racism because the money's good, and the solution isn't for them to blame someone else. The solution is for them to change their priorities.