Is Jamie Thomas the dumbest man on the planet? Or is he just willfully ignorant? And which is worse?
This weekend, Japanese skater and World Skateboarding Championship silver medalist, Kairi Netsuke, turned pro for Zero skateboards.
A much-deserved accomplishment for an amazing skateboarder, now completely overshadowed by Jamie Thomas—the man who cannot help but make everything about himself—and his choice of board graphic.
Excerpt from the Harvard Crimson:
"The Rising Sun flag is often likened to the Nazi Swastika, and rightfully so. It was used as a flag of war, officially made the war flag of the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1870. The flag reminds especially Chinese and Korean people of the horrors of Japanese occupation. The Japanese imperialists' crimes against humanity include forced labor, gruesome medical experiments on innocent people, and forced prostitution. The Rising Sun flag became a flashpoint of tension during the Beijing Olympics and other major sporting events. FIFA has also instituted a ban on the flag at international football matches in response to South Korean protests. As such, the flag is internationally recognized as divisive, if not downright offensive."
Somebody please save this talented young man from the inevitable, pathetically-paying, exploitative, dead-end, career fate that results from riding for Jamie Thomas and Zero.