Colin Kaepernick, Fidel Castro, and revolutionary romanticism (op-ed)
Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro died the week the San Francisco 49ers were scheduled to play the Miami Dolphins. Before his death, there was a dispute over a T-shirt with his depiction.
Back during the preseason Colin Kaepernick, 49ers quarterback known for his pre-game national anthem protest, wore a T-shirt featuring a meeting between Fidel Castro and Malcolm X. (Background: In 1959 Castro overthrew US backed dictator and promised Cuba will have no more dictators and free elections. In 1960 Castro gave a speech at the UN denouncing the United States. During this UN visit Castro stayed in a Harlem hotel. That’s when Castro and Malcolm X were introduced. The photos have more symbolism than historical significance.)
During a teleconference a Miami reporter, a Cuban exile, reminded Kaepernick of his preseason apparel and asked how he could protest oppression then don a T-shirt featuring an oppressor.
Kaepernick said he wore a Malcolm X shirt.
The reporter said Castro was also depicted.
Kaepernick explained he believed in Malcolm X’s ideology and his meeting with Castro showed Malcolm’s open mind and interest in international affairs.
But the reporter only wanted to know if Kaepernick supported Castro and his oppression, Kaepernick said, “I’m not talking about Fidel Castro’s oppression.”
The reporter wrote in his own op-ed, then “in the next breath Kaepernick, born in Milwaukee, Wis., explains to me, the guy born in Havana, how great Castro really is.”
Kaepernick said, “One thing Fidel Castro did do is … Have the highest literacy rate because they invest more in their educational system than they do their prison systems.”
The reporter asked about the communist revolution, the lack of free elections, justice, and the break up of families, like his own.
Kaepernick replied, “We break up families here. That’s what mass incarceration is, the foundation of slavery. So our country has been based on that as well as the genocide of Native Americans.”
At first the reporter’s questions were like a lawyer badgering a witness about a trivial matter, but he was actually protesting the romanticizing of the Cuban revolution.
It’s most likely Kaepernick wore the T-shirt during the preseason because Fidel Castro and Malcolm X are romanticized figures for defying America and black militancy. That combination (the middle finger and the black fist) was perfect symbolism for his national anthem protest.
I doubt if Kaepernick gave the plight of Cuban exiles a single thought. Kaepernick confirmed he didn’t, by stating he’s not talking about Castro’s oppression, but that statement also confirms he’s aware of it. Then he bragged about Cuba’s high literacy rate as if the ability to read as a child is an even exchange for a lifetime of autocratic rule.
If Kaepernick was ignorant of the human suffering inflicted by Castro the reporter might not have mentioned the T-shirt, but Kaepernick is aware and ignores it because of what Castro symbolizes to him.
The reporter quoted Kaepernick saying if anyone is okay with people being treated unfairly, being harassed, being terrorized then the problem is more what they’re doing in their lives. The reporter wrote, “Kaepernick doesn’t understand his words apply to him before he can apply them to others.”
But this is the moral failing of romanticism when faced with reality.
Romanticism is nothing but an infatuation with ideology, or in this case revolutionary intentions, while overlooking the real life consequences of their implementation.
First published in the New Pittsburgh Courier 12/7/16
Back during the preseason Colin Kaepernick, 49ers quarterback known for his pre-game national anthem protest, wore a T-shirt featuring a meeting between Fidel Castro and Malcolm X. (Background: In 1959 Castro overthrew US backed dictator and promised Cuba will have no more dictators and free elections. In 1960 Castro gave a speech at the UN denouncing the United States. During this UN visit Castro stayed in a Harlem hotel. That’s when Castro and Malcolm X were introduced. The photos have more symbolism than historical significance.)
During a teleconference a Miami reporter, a Cuban exile, reminded Kaepernick of his preseason apparel and asked how he could protest oppression then don a T-shirt featuring an oppressor.
Kaepernick said he wore a Malcolm X shirt.
The reporter said Castro was also depicted.
Kaepernick explained he believed in Malcolm X’s ideology and his meeting with Castro showed Malcolm’s open mind and interest in international affairs.
But the reporter only wanted to know if Kaepernick supported Castro and his oppression, Kaepernick said, “I’m not talking about Fidel Castro’s oppression.”
The reporter wrote in his own op-ed, then “in the next breath Kaepernick, born in Milwaukee, Wis., explains to me, the guy born in Havana, how great Castro really is.”
Kaepernick said, “One thing Fidel Castro did do is … Have the highest literacy rate because they invest more in their educational system than they do their prison systems.”
The reporter asked about the communist revolution, the lack of free elections, justice, and the break up of families, like his own.
Kaepernick replied, “We break up families here. That’s what mass incarceration is, the foundation of slavery. So our country has been based on that as well as the genocide of Native Americans.”
At first the reporter’s questions were like a lawyer badgering a witness about a trivial matter, but he was actually protesting the romanticizing of the Cuban revolution.
It’s most likely Kaepernick wore the T-shirt during the preseason because Fidel Castro and Malcolm X are romanticized figures for defying America and black militancy. That combination (the middle finger and the black fist) was perfect symbolism for his national anthem protest.
I doubt if Kaepernick gave the plight of Cuban exiles a single thought. Kaepernick confirmed he didn’t, by stating he’s not talking about Castro’s oppression, but that statement also confirms he’s aware of it. Then he bragged about Cuba’s high literacy rate as if the ability to read as a child is an even exchange for a lifetime of autocratic rule.
If Kaepernick was ignorant of the human suffering inflicted by Castro the reporter might not have mentioned the T-shirt, but Kaepernick is aware and ignores it because of what Castro symbolizes to him.
The reporter quoted Kaepernick saying if anyone is okay with people being treated unfairly, being harassed, being terrorized then the problem is more what they’re doing in their lives. The reporter wrote, “Kaepernick doesn’t understand his words apply to him before he can apply them to others.”
But this is the moral failing of romanticism when faced with reality.
Romanticism is nothing but an infatuation with ideology, or in this case revolutionary intentions, while overlooking the real life consequences of their implementation.
First published in the New Pittsburgh Courier 12/7/16
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