Throw out your New Balance shoes or light them on fire because the company has publicly backed president-elect Donald Trump.

Okay, so New Balance only supports Trump on his stance against the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and nothing else. This isn’t even a policy unique to Trump. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both staunchly opposed the TPP. Now that Trump has taken a stance against it, however, no company can oppose it without a public relations nightmare. Not even New Balance, which faces the prospect of having to close its American factories if the TPP is to go into effect, can support one of Trump’s policies without a neo-Nazi labeling it “the official shoe of white people.” 

If neo-Nazis wanted to pick a brand to demonstrate their fascist and racist ideologies, then they could have done better than New Balance. These sneakers represent suburban dads grilling hotdogs on Memorial Day. The neo-Nazis should have chosen something that better fits their style, like jackboots.

We have to take a step back and realize how ridiculous this situation is. People are literally lighting their sneakers on fire because New Balance supported just one of the future president’s policies. These shoes cost more than $100, and people are turning them into campfires. I know people are afraid of what will happen over the next four years, but burning some shoes is not going to solve anything.

We need to end the divisiveness that is taking over this country. Many people, myself included, do not support all of Trump’s policies, but we cannot vilify every person or organization that agrees with something he says. The executives of New Balance are not racist. They just want continue to make shoes in the United States.

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