NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick said, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street … This is not something that I am going to run by anybody. I am not looking for approval. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed … I know that I stood up for what is right.”
First, he had more “I” in what he says than a President Obama speech about someone else. Beyond that, this pampered athlete certainly has the right to make a statement that has no factual basis. He can say stupid and hypocritical things; it’s every American’s right to be an idiot.
And it’s my right to make fun of him.
SUPPORTING OPPRESSION
With his whole body tattooed almost all the way up to his neck, you know Kaepernick makes good decisions. His latest rant might trigger the NFL concussion protocol.
He has been fined for using the “N” word against an opponent and then lying about it. Tapes proved he lied and the NFL fined him. A woman accused him of abuse that sent her to the hospital. So he is a racist, a liar and he abuses women. But let’s hear him out on this one as he lectures us on the oppressive conditions in America while wearing a Fidel Castro T-shirt.
Apparently, they do not teach history well at the University of Nevada-Reno. It is estimated that Castro killed between 15,000 and 33,000 people during his self-proclaimed reign as Communist dictator of Cuba.
Again, Kaepernick honored Castro, while lecturing us on oppression.
The now 85-year-old Castro oppressed and killed his own people. He ravaged Cuba’s economy and stole — his net worth is around $1 billion — before retiring to spend more time oppressing his family.
Just imagine how much Castro would be worth if he were not a “share the wealth” communist.
DISPROVING A LIE
Both “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” and Black Lives Matter are founded on a lie. Michael Brown didn’t have his hands up in Ferguson. As to Kaepernick’s anti-cop (pro-Black Lives Matter) assertion that blacks are being shot by cops at alarming rates, the facts prove him wrong.
In her new book, “The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe,” Heather MacDonald cites simple FBI crime statistics that disprove the lie on which Black Lives Matter is based.
First, black and Hispanic cops are far more likely — 3.3 times — than a white cop to shoot an unarmed black suspect. While they are only 6 percent of the population, black males make up 40 percent of all cop killers.
Thus, she determines that a police officer is 18.5 times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male is likely to be killed by a cop.
Blacks commit homicide at a rate eight times higher than whites and Hispanics combined. Blacks are 13 percent of the population but commit 52 percent of all murders. This puts them into more tense and more regular contact with police. That’s the issue Kaepernick should speak out about, but that won’t endear him to the media.
The media love Kaepernick’s faux protest but ridiculed Tim Tebow’s Christian values. Now Tebow has a baseball tryout with the Braves — not bad for a guy who has never gotten to third base.
Of course, this is about race, so Obama had to fan the fires. “I’d rather have young people who are engaged in the argument … than people who are just sitting on the sidelines…” Obama said.
Kaepernick is sitting on the sideline and arguing, so he is doing both.
Ron Hart, a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author, is a frequent guest on CNN. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: HART: Kaepernick speaks out on oppression while supporting it