Violence Over Sneakers

Sneakers have always been apart of our lives since the Michael Jordan era. Many young teenagers now don’t remember who Michael Jordan is but remember him for his sneakers. The sneaker culture now has now been focus on what sneakers someone has and if they have the most exclusive sneakers amongst friends and others. But with that comes a price.

Many incidents have been occurring about someone getting shot or killed over a pair of sneakers (mostly Jordans). On December 22, 2012, 2 men were shot in Texas over their Jordans (to be specific Jordan 11 Bred). Both men were leaving the mall with the sneakers in hand until they were approached by 2 men in a car and told them to give up the sneakers. 1 man got away safely but, the other victim tried to get in the car and drive away but was shot at in the back of the head by the men who shot through the back window of the car. All of this over a pair of sneakers is unacceptable. There should be no reason to kill an innocent person for a pair of sneakers. Sneakers are sneakers. Yes, some of them are rare one and some are limited to a certain number of pairs made but that doesn’t mean that a person should rely on violence to get one of those pairs of sneakers if they didn’t get one themselves.

Another incident where someone was robbed of their sneakers involves college students who go to a excellent college but decided to beat up a student for his Nike Foamposites while his friends video taped the fight and watch. Every student who laughed and video taped the fight including the student who beat the other student up for his sneakers were all expelled from the college. These were people who were accepted into a very good college but doing one little mistake caused them to be expelled.

Now the sneaker culture isn’t always having bad and cruel incidents with it. There is good things that come with it too. Sneaker Con is a convention that is held in different states and countries all the time. It’s a convention where people who love to collect sneakers get a chance to connect with people just like them and sell their sneakers or trade them. This is a great way to show their love for sneakers in a organized way. This is also a learning experience for young people who go to these conventions in a way. Let’s take a look at one story about a young sneaker collector named Alex who is 15 years old. Alex was featured in a ESPN article called, "Sneakerheads: The Business of Reselling Sneakers.". Alex is many of young sneaker collectors who buy and sell sneakers making up to a much as $1000 dollars. During the documentary, it follows  Alex and his friends at a sneaker convention. While they are there, Alex becomes a smart deal maker. Alex is in the middle of making a deal with one person (which ends up ending with a deal of $340 dollars), Alex finishes another deal halfway down the table worth $320 dollars which he wasn’t apart of at the moment. Alex and his friends continue to make deals with people and bargaining with them to get the right price.

After that, Alex’s father is sat down and talks about how he feels about his son and what he does. Alex’s father says that he somewhat likes what Alex is doing. He says that it is showing him that he knows how to handle money and how negotiate with his money. But, his father also says that he does not like it as well because he feels that instead of spending time on a Saturday morning on the computer trying to purchase a sneaker coming out that day, he could be studying and doing his homework. This is true but this could also be another way for young sneaker collectors to learn how to manage money and how to use it wisely and not spend it on things without really thinking about it.