In August, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took heat for appearing at a press conference in a shirt featuring Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
>> Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro dead at 90
With Castro's death on Friday and a 49ers game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, that choice has attracted new attention. In a Wednesday conference call, Miami Herald reporter and Cuban-American Armando Salguero called out Kaepernick for the shirt, asking:
"Colin, one of the times that you made that stance about fighting systematic oppression, you wore a Malcolm X shirt… Are you not aware that Fidel Castro is one of the 20th Century's biggest oppressors of people?"
>> Fidel Castro dies: Florida leaders hope Cuba knows more freedom
Kaepernick praised Castro's record on criminal justice reform and literacy achievements, but did not acknowledge the thousands of Cubans who died in firing squads and extrajudicial killings under the regime. Many Cubans who fled to the United States did so to escape Castro and his forces.
Video captured Kaepernick’s cold reception from Miami fans, presumably a reaction to his stance on Castro and Cuba. San Francisco would go on to lose to the Dolphins by 7 points.
>> Fidel Castro dies: Exiles recall pain with sorrow, freedom with joy
After Sunday’s loss, Colin Kaepernick’s season record is 0-6.
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