With the death of Fidel Castro today I thought this article from a Cuban-American journalist that criticizes San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s support of Castro was worth sharing:
And because Kaepernick apparently doesn’t understand his words apply to him before he can apply them to others, I ask the man who protests oppression why he wore the Castro shirt when the tyrant is demonstrably a star on the world’s All Oppressor team? (………….)
At this point I hope Kaepernick is starting to realize how untenable his position is relative to the Castros. Even Malcolm X, who met with Castro in New York, for years afterward declined invitations to visit him in Cuba. I’m hoping Kaepernick understands one should not make broad statements about standing up for people’s rights, then slip into a Fidel Castro shirt, suggesting approval for a man who has spent his days on the planet stifling people’s rights.
And that’s exactly the moment Kaepernick shows how lost he truly is. Because in the next breath, Kaepernick, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, explains to me, the guy born in Havana, how great Castro really is.
“One thing Fidel Castro did do is they have the highest literacy rate because they invest more in their education system than they do in their prison system, which we do not do here even though we’re fully capable of doing that,” Kaepernick said.
Is this real life?
First, Cuba does not have the highest literacy rate. Second, don’t be surprised if the same people who report Cuba’s admittedly high literacy rate are related to those who report its election results — the ones in which the Castros get 100 percent of the votes.
Third, could it be Cuba doesn’t have to invest a lot in its prison system because, you know, dungeons and firing squads (El Paredon) are not too expensive to maintain?
Finally, it’s bizarre that Kaepernick is extolling the education system of a country where people believe launching out into shark-infested seas to flee is a better idea than staying there. [Miami Herald via This Ain’t Hell]
You can read much more at the link, but someone should ask Kaepernick if he would where a Kim Il-sung t-shirt?
He might as well because Kim Il-sung and Fidel Castro have done much of the same things to establish oppressive one party rule in their respective countries. It just that the leftist ideology that Kaepernick advocates for tends to overlook Castro’s oppression compared to Kim Il-sung. This just shows what a hypocrite Kaepernick is to be protesting supposed oppression in America, but is happy to be seen wearing a shirt featuring Fidel Castro.
