Kenner mayor rescinds Nike ban after storm of criticism

17th September 2018   ·   0 Comments

The second week of September had to be one of the longest Kenner Mayor Ben Zahn has ever experienced. Not only did the Republican mayor live through what is commonly known as the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season — he also endured a firestorm of criticism between Sept. 5 and 12 after announcing that the City of Kenner would ban all Nike products after the sports apparel giant new media campaign that embraces former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

The pushback from the announcement was fast and furious with a protest in Kenner attracting hundreds and everyone from New Orleans Saints players, a congressman, a New Orleans businessman, civil rights groups and a host of elected officials taking aim at the embattled mayor.

After initially defending his decision to ban Nike, Zahn decided Wednesday after meeting with Kenner’s city attorney to rescind the Nike ban.

But that came after a turbulent week of protests and criticism.

Just days before the start of the 2018 NFL football season, Zahn’s proposed ban on Nike products sparked a major protest. Zahn’s memo to the director of Kenner’s Parks & Recreation Department, which made national headlines on Monday morning, Sept. 10, instructed the director to ban the purchase of Nike products by booster clubs affiliated with the city’s recreation department.

Zahn signed the memo on Sept. 5 which states that “[u]nder no circumstances” can any Nike apparel or equipment be “purchased for use or delivery” at any recreation facilities in the city.

“Effective immediately all purchases made by any booster club operating at any Kenner Recreation Facility for wearing apparel, shoes, athletic equipment and/or any athletic product must be approved by the Director of Parks and Recreation, or his designee,” the memo added.

“In Kenner, like every city, our citizens and our taxpayers cover a wide spectrum of political philosophies and agendas,” Zahn wrote. “We must respect all of those agendas and philosophies.

“So, when a company uses its advertising as its own political megaphone, government should be fair to all of its people and not allow taxpayer dollars to be used to help that company to push its own political agenda.”

The memo was released in the wake of Nike’s decision to feature former NFL quarterback, one of the leaders of NFL player protests against social injustice, in a new campaign that paints Kaepernick in a positive light despite criticism from President Donald Trump, prominent members of the Republican Party and a significant number of white male football fans.

As news spread Monday of Mayor Zahn’s efforts to ban Nike products in Kenner’s Recreation department, critics spread the word on social media and gathered at the Susan Park Gym to demonstrate their opposition to the ban. Among those in attendance were Jefferson and Orleans Parish residents, several members of the New Orleans Saints football team and at least one business owner.

Saints offensive lineman Terron Armstead showed up wearing a Nike tank top and teammate and Pro Bowl defensive end Cam Jordan also sported Nike gear with both players addressing the crowd of several hundred protesters that included children from the city’s booster clubs.

Also attending the protest was Saints player Craig Robertson.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in a statement that Mayor Zahn’s proposed Nike ban was “out of step” with the values of the City of New Orleans and “not reflective of the way our city does business.”

Cantrell added that the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, which is located in Kenner, would not adhere to Mayor Kahn’s proposed policy.

Gregory Carroll, the lone Black member of the Kenner City Council, said Monday that he was unaware of the memo before it was released and was “100 percent” opposed to it.

“I will meet with the Mayor and other Council members in an effort to rescind this directive,” Carroll wrote in a statement posted online.

“These policies are illegal,” Jefferson Parish Councilman Mark Spears, who is Black, told protesters Monday evening.

Spears encouraged protesters to let Zahn know exactly how they feel about his memo when it is time to elect a new mayor in Kenner. “Elections have consequences,” Spears told the crowd. “Register to vote.”

“Elected officials should refrain from using their philosophical and political viewpoints to direct public policy,” Randal L. Gaines, chairman of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, said in a statement Tuesday. “Such actions are contradictory to the best interest of the people they have been elected to represent. Government actions should adhere to the rule and spirit of the law and be based on progressive fiscal policies and constructive administrative directives.”

Zahn said Monday that his memo — which also ordered any purchases made by booster clubs to be routed through the City of Kenner’s administration — did not ban Nike gear from being worn at parks across the city. While praising Nike Monday for its “message of inclusion and encouragement for everyone to be their best and dream big,” he added that the sports apparel goat, “in its zeal to sell shoes, chose to promote and sell a political message.”

The New Orleans Advocate reported that during Kenner’s Freedom Fest over the Labor Day Weekend, Zahn introduced the singer of the national anthem by telling the crowd, “In the City of Kenner, we all stand.”

For some, like Kenner volunteer coach Brian Williams, the Nike ban just doesn’t make any sense.

Williams told FOX 8 News that he and others go into their own pockets to buy equipment and other items for kids playing at Kenner playgrounds.

“They come up to me [saying] ‘Coach Brian, I don’t have socks, or Coach Brian I don’t have a helmet or Coach Brian I don’t have pads.’ It don’t matter, we go into Academy real quick and that $20 or $30 is coming out of our pockets,” Williams said. “No one’s going to tell me I can’t spend money on Nike products. What if Nike’s on sale?”

Williams added that his own kids participate in playground activities and he is offended that the mayor is injecting political views into the topic of kids and sports.

“That memo kind of lost sight of the fact that our recreational department is primarily for children, it’s not for anyone to push political agendas on either side,” said Williams. “It’s a direct insult especially this memorandum was given on Sept. 5, the same day that Nike released that ad of Colin Kaepernick, and knowing that he’s speaking for racial injustice and police brutality and social injustice.”

Tulane law professor Tim Werham told FOX 8 News that Zahn’s directive would not hold up in court because the order could be a violation of the First Amendment.

“To the extent the memo bars private entities like booster clubs, for example, from purchasing Nike products, that’s one step removed from the city making its own decision about whom to engage into contract with. It’s affecting the contractual rights of a private entity. It would seem to me to be a very clear violation of First Amendment if that prohibition extended to funds that are the booster funds that did not come from the city,” Werham said.

Larry Morrow, co-owner of the popular new restaurant Morrow’s in the Faubourg Marigny, said Monday that Zahn should use his power to bring people together rather than divide them over the issue of Nike’s deal with Kaepernick and the ongoing debate over NFL player protests during the national anthem.

It was Larry Morrow, a special-events planner, who used Instagram to ensure that Monday’s protest would be well-attended by those who opposed Mayor Zahn’s proposed ban.

Also weighing in on the proposed ban on Nike products in Kenner was U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, who wrote Tuesday, “After reading… Zahn’s memorandum…, I knew I had to publicly address yet another politician for senselessly attempting to further divide our community. We should take a moment to question why Nike is the top priority for a local politician when his residents face a variety of social and economic challenges. Mayor Zahn is imposing his personal beliefs onto Little League players, and I strongly oppose his stance.

“My beloved home state, to which I have had the privilege of serving for nearly 20 years, like many others in our nation, has its fair share of problems,” Richmond continued. “Louisiana’s educational system ranks 49th in the nation, our healthcare system ranks 47th in the nation, and Louisiana has one of the highest infant mortality rates at around eight percent. I could go on with an additional list of challenges that all our communities and politicians face that we should collectively work together to solve, and that’s why Mayor Zahn has no business imposing this policy onto innocent children.

“Nike is a multi-billion dollar global enterprise that has never contributed to the social and economic challenges in Louisiana. In fact, Nike donated more than $10 million after Hurricane Katrina to build a stadium and track in Joe Brown Park for metro area children. Contrary to Mayor Zahn’s belief, Nike is not running a political campaign. Using the current controversy surrounding Nike’s support of Colin Kaepernick as an excuse to rob resources from those who need it most in Kenner is a clear sign of Mayor Zahn’s pandering at the expense of the very children he is entrusted with guiding. It is shameful to divide such a close-knit community just for national political attention.

“Instead of playing petty politics to score cheap points to the detriment of Little League players, Mayor Zahn should be working on behalf of his entire community,” Richmond added. “I have long put people over politics and have a consistent track record of bipartisanship to bring people together. Kenner residents deserve better, and I support their use of all Nike products.”

Things came to a head Wednesday with Zahn’s announcement that he would rescind the Nike ban.

Zahn said the memo divided the city and rescinded it in order to unite Kenner again.
“My focus needs to be on the city of Kenner and the many great projects we have in store for our city,” said Zahn.

Morrow, the restaurant co-owner, told FOX 8 News that while he was happy that the Nike ban had been rescinded, that decision did not erase all of the racial division and confusion caused by the ban.

At least one Kenner resident, who did not wish to be identified, said she believes that the proposed Nike ban didn’t create any new racial divisions in Kenner.

“It was already there,” she told The Louisiana Weekly. “It may not be presented on the evening news or even talked about in the newspapers, but it’s always been there. Kenner has a long history of oppressing and marginalizing Black people.”
“We’re pleased the mayor reconsidered his divisive stance and rescinded this unconstitutional policy,” Alanah Odoms Hebert, ACLU of Louisiana executive director, said Wednesday. “The reversal of this ban is good news for the people of Kenner and all Louisianians, who have a constitutional right to express their political views free from government censorship or discrimination. Officials across the state should remember: they took an oath to serve all their constituents, regardless of what brand they wear or what political views they hold.”

Kenner booster parent Jill Johnson told FOX 8 News that the mayor’s decision to reverse the ban on Nike products came a little too late.

“Now that we know by this statement who he really is,” said Johnson.

Johnson says she sees through that.

“We have a racist mayor and we need to get this mayor recalled, and we’re going to do everything we can do to try to get him to do a resignation because we are not supported as an African American. I know we are not supported by the mayor in Kenner.”

However, some are supportive of the mayor’s latest decision. Larry Morrow helped coordinate one of the protests when word of the original September memo first spread.

“We had powerful leaders; I think with that it made a strong statement,” Morrow said.

Morrow called the mayor’s decision to scrap the directive a victory, but says rescinding the memo doesn’t rescind how the memo made many feel, particularly people of color.

“We should feel victimized because that statement and sending out that memo that was bold to do,” said Morrow. But both Morrow and Zahn agree it is time to move forward.

“We wanted him to step up to the plate but that doesn’t fix everything. There’s still much more work to do but we still need to come together and be vocal,” said Morrow.

This article originally published in the September 17, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.