{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://troycarter.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-carter-condemns-nike-converse-sneaker-ad-depicting-lynching", "Congressman Carter Condemns Nike, Converse Sneaker Ad Depicting a Lynching", "2026-09-18", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "House", "LA", "Troy A. Carter", "C001125", "troycarter.house.gov", "troycarter", "https://troycarter.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-LA) released the following statement after Converse and Nike released a social media campaign promoting the Chuck 70X sneaker \u2013 including pictures with serious racial implications.\n\n\u201cNike and Converse, what the hell were you thinking?\n\n\u201cYour campaign shows what looks like a hooded Klansman, framed by what appears to be the dangling feet of a lynching victim. There is nothing creative or artistic about it. It is racist, reckless and deeply offensive.\n\n\u201cI am a Black man, a son of the South and a Member of Congress from Louisiana. Where I come from, the image of Black people hanging from trees is not ancient history. That pain still lives in our families and communities. The white hood is not some harmless costume. It is a symbol of terror, murder and generations of racial violence.\n\n\u201cDo not insult our intelligence by dismissing this as an unfortunate misunderstanding. An advertising campaign does not just appear. It is conceived, photographed, reviewed, approved and distributed. At every stage, someone had the opportunity\u2014and the responsibility\u2014to say no.\n\n\u201cWho created this campaign? Who approved it? How many executives saw it? Were there any Black people in the room? If so, did anyone listen to them?\n\n\u201cYou do not get to quietly pull the images, issue a polished apology and move on. You do not get a do-over. The public deserves to know how this happened, who was responsible and what you intend to do about it.\n\n\u201cBlack pain is not a marketing prop. Lynching is not a creative concept. The Ku Klux Klan is not an aesthetic.\n\n\u201cThis campaign should never have been created, approved or released. Nike and Converse must answer for it. You have caused real harm, and repairing that harm will require more than an apology written by your public relations department.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-19T09:11:33Z", "2026-09-19T09:12:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://troycarter.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-carter-condemns-nike-converse-sneaker-ad-depicting-lynching"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9147687815129757, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}