Reactions to Nike pulling controversial sneakers are telling

Nike has pulled back from the brink and cancelled plans to release its Air Max 1 Quick Strike Fourth of July sneakers - what a ridiculous mouthful of a product name anyway! - after complaints that it features the highly controversial so-called Betsy Ross Flag. This is an old version of the US flag with a circle of 13 white stars on the blue square, representing the original US 13 states, instead of 50 stars representing today's states. Personally, I thought it looked like the EU flag, but what do I know?
As Nike must have been aware, the flag, which was last current in the late 18th century, has been adopted by several white nationalist groups, and has much the same political import as the Confederate flag of pre-Civil War slavery days. So, what Nike was thinking is anyone's guess (well, they were probably thinking, "let's issue a patriotic shoe using a historical US flag", but even so, they should have known better).
The conservative outcry against Nike's cancellation decision is even more telling though. Arizona's Republican governor has vowed to withdraw a $2 million incentive offer intended to encourage Nike, the world's largest sports apparel manufacturer, to move a production facility to the state, arguing that the decision to withdraw the product was politically wrong and Arizona doesn't need their businss anyway (in fact, he has no jurisdiction to do so, as the offer was from the city of Goodyear, Arizona, and apparently they DO need the business, and fully intend to honour the offer).
Other high profile Republican Senators and Representatives have complained about the decision with the usual Twitter outrage, and some have quite specifically reacted to the rumour that Nike were persuaded by protests by Colin Kaepernick (he of the bended knee anthem protest, who just happens to be one of the most visible faces of Nike advertising). Kaepernick is the bête noir of the Republican right, and any indication that he may have been involved, even just rumours, would be enough to trigger a knee-jerk reaction.
It's all just yet another indication of how polarized, how precarious, the United States is these days on the subject of race. Donald Trump will probably get around to sticking his oar in when someone points it out to him, and that will no doubt make everything even worse, as does everything the man touches.