The Converse controversy demands more than an apology.
By Dr. Tamika Quinn
Black Americans are valuable enough to market to. Why does respecting us still seem negotiable?
That is the question I keep returning to after seeing the Converse campaign image that drew criticism for visual associations with Klan imagery and lynching. The white silhouette, lighting, and dangling black sneakers disturbed viewers, including me. Converse apologized, acknowledged that it got the image wrong, and said it removed it from its channels. Converse’s response
I am glad the company acknowledged the problem. I am still livid.
Let me tell you, an apology does not obligate the people you offended to immediately restore your access to their trust—or their wallets.
This history happened here
Black people were enslaved, lynched, and terrorized in this country. Our families do not encounter imagery associated with that history as detached observers studying an old photograph. For many of us, that history is personal.
And the anxiety surrounding hanging deaths is not confined to the past.
In a September 10, 2026 statement, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley’s office cited at least 10 reported hanging deaths of Black people that year. Pressley and 59 colleagues called for comprehensive federal investigations. The figure includes deaths ruled suicide; it is neither a count of confirmed lynchings nor a complete national tally. Congressional statement
Some families have challenged official conclusions. Reporting on Juliana Nzita’s death, for example, raised questions about the absence of a full autopsy and the handling of evidence. Those concerns deserve examination, not automatic dismissal—and each case deserves conclusions grounded in its own evidence. Case reporting
That is part of the context in which this advertisement lands.
You cannot ask an audience to leave its history outside the frame simply because you intended to sell shoes.
