The Media and False Narratives
San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, made
headlines once again for comments on Fidel Castro.
On August 30 2016, Kaepernick arrived to a press conference
wearing a shirt that showed pictures of Fidel Castro and Malcolm X. These pictures
were captured during Castro’s visit to Harlem in 1960. In which Malcolm and
Castro met and spoke about the oppression of Afro-Cubans.
In a conference call with the South Florida media Wednesday,
Kaepernick praised Castro’s ideals on education. “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,” "I agree with the investment in education. I also agree
with the investment in free universal health care as well as the involvement in
helping end apartheid in South Africa," said Kaepernick.
He then stated, “I’m not talking about Fidel Castro and his
oppression. I’m talking about Malcolm X and what he’s done for people.” By
saying these things, he thought that the media would portray his comments in
the right fashion but that did the complete opposite.
Kaepernick this Sunday choose to clarify his comments and
talk briefly about the misconception of his words. "Trying to push the
false narrative that I was a supporter of the oppressive things he [Castro] did
is just not true," Kaepernick said. "I said I support the investment
in education, I never said I support the oppressive things he [Castro]
did."
Kaepernick truly showed the world once again that the media
is responsible for false narratives. His choice to stand for educational
advances over prison investments is something that is getting over looked. The
focus has become idealizing an oppressor in Fidel Castro, which was never his
intentions, as he as previously stated.
