What did people get upset about before the age of social media?
I would imagine people were just walking up and down the streets of their neighborhood screaming at their neighbors, or maybe even yelling right into their morning paper, before they had the ability to be outraged at something new everyday online.
Currently, people are upset about Air Force Football’s newest uniform reveal, which draws inspiration from a pivotal moment in World War II. The football team took to their social media to announce that they would be sporting special threads that honor the Doolittle Raid in their game against their rival Navy.
If you are in need of a little history refresher, the Doolittle Raid (also known as the Tokyo Raid) took place on April 18th, 1942. United States forces sent 16 B-25 bombers deep into Japan and pulled off an air strike on Tokyo, Japan’s capital.
The raid was a direct retaliation to Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, which killed over 2,400 Americans. Though the Doolittle Raid didn’t do as much damage as originally intended, it was an incredible moral boost for the U.S. and its forces, and had a significant psychological impact on the Japanese.
It is definitely viewed as a heroic moment in the history of America, but people aren’t too happy about how Air Force “honored” the event with their uniform promo.
The football squad posted the picture of the uniform with the caption “an ambush,” and included a quote from General James Doolittle in the graphic:
“The Japanese we’re apparently entirely unprepared for our arrival.”
Take a look:
It makes sense that the Air Force would want to honor one of their past achievements, but the uniform announcement hasn’t landed (no Air Force pun intended) as well as they would have hoped.
X users (formerly Twitter users) went to the replies of the service academy’s post and left their mixed reactions below:
— Great Day Tar Heel (@GreatDayTarHeel) August 18, 2023
Equating football to a literal war is a very bad thing.
— New Nature Boy (@net_elephant) August 18, 2023
Just a reminder to all you pearl clutchers: Japan started it.
— Patrick D. (@IsThatACorndog) August 18, 2023
Delete this. Do better!
— Jonathan (@iampangean) August 18, 2023
Poor taste.
— Dantastic (@innominate33) August 18, 2023
Live look at Air Force’s head coach pic.twitter.com/he3zdDKpk8
— Barstool UCF (@UCFStool) August 18, 2023
