Colin Kaepernick’s latest comments about Fidel Castro will likely create even more strain in his relationship with the American public.
Kaepernick, who led a social movement by kneeling for the national anthem as a sign of protest against the treatment of minorities by some police officers, spoke positively about the educational system under Castro’s leadership in Cuba.
The San Francisco 49ers QB made his comments during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday ahead of his team’s game Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. The line of questioning came up after a Miami Herald reporter pressed Kaepernick about a T-shirt the QB wore earlier this season that featured Malcolm X and Castro. Given the amount of Cuban refugees in South Florida, a public figure supporting Castro is a hot-button item.
Kaepernick said the T-shirt was really intended to focus on Malcolm X, but when pressed, Kaepernick did praise the educational system under Castro.
“One thing that 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.
While Cuba may have high literacy rates, Kaepernick needs to understand that praising Castro for one aspect of his regime while omitting the leader’s repressive and freedom-restricting ways is a highly questionable ranking of values. How can a guy who preaches values and freedoms for all individuals be supportive of a leader who seized land from individuals and suppressed all dissent? Does Kaepernick not realize that under Castro’s regime he wouldn’t have even had the opportunity to protest a national anthem? Praising Castro just appears to be the latest example of Kaepernick showing hypocritical traits.
