QB repeats his praise of Castro despite critics
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — A day after South Florida marked Fidel Castro’s death with celebrations, the crowd at Hard Rock Stadium greeted Colin Kaepernick with a loud chorus of boos when he took the field Sunday.
The 49ers’ quarterback arrived four days after he got into a testy back-and-forth with a Miami reporter on a conference call over a T-shirt he wore in August that featured slain civil rights activist Malcolm X and Castro, the former Cuban president who died Friday.
Kaepernick denounced Castro’s oppression Wednesday, but did praise Cuba’s educational system under the dictatorship. His answers weren’t well received in Florida, but Kaepernick continued to mention what he viewed as positives of Castro’s regime after the 31-24 loss to Miami.
“What I said was I agree with the investment in education,” Kaepernick said. “I also agree with the investment in free universal health care, as well as him helping end apartheid in South Africa. I would hope that everyone agrees those things are good things. And trying to push the false narrative that I was a supporter of the oppressive things he did is just not true.”
The T-shirt Kaepernick wore in August had pictures of Malcolm X and Castro from their meeting in Harlem in 1960. Underneath the pictures, it read: “Like Minds Think Alike.” Kaepernick, who wore a Malcolm X Tshirt after Sunday’s game, referred to the meeting in Harlem when asked if he understood why South Floridians might have taken exception to any perceived support of Castro.
“I can understand the concern,” Kaepernick said. “But, for me, what I said was that was a historic moment for Malcolm. I’m not going to cut out pieces of Malcolm’s life. In 1960, when they met in Harlem, that was a historic moment. And that’s something where I will always be true to what Malcolm was, what he represented. I’m not going to cut out history.”
Later, Kaepernick was asked if he wanted to clarify any of his remarks.
“I feel like I did clarify them,” Kaepernick said. “I believe in the investment in education, I believe in the free universal health care, which we don’t have (in the United States). And I also believe in the positive thing he did in helping end apartheid in South Africa.”