Reaching out to athletes and entertainers has become the norm amid mainstream media, and earlier this week Snoop Dogg was invited to appear on FS1’s “Undisputed” to discuss the ongoing debate surrounding Colin Kaepernick.
Snoop is a celebrity who created his fame through gangster rap. Born Calvin Broadus, Snoop made his fame talking about shooting and killing other black people. Some might question his qualifications when it comes to discussions of race, but we have some interest in hearing his views on current events, which in this case was on Kaep.
In the discussion, Snoop insisted that Kaep should decide whether he wanted to be a football player or a revolutionary, a myopic viewpoint from a brother who took years to apologize for misogyny, and who still excuses his own influence in the celebration of the culture of death that is gangsterism in urban America. Yet he decided to attack Colin when we know that black advancement in professional sports has gone hand in hand with black protest. Just look at trailblazers such as Jackie Robinson, Jim Brown and Muhammad Ali. Where would Black athletes be today without them?
It is statements such as those, and him calling Kaepernick a hypocrite for speaking of the positive aspects of Fidel Castro following his death, that garner a major side side.
“He’s sort of kind of hypocritical in so many words because he’s pushing this, but at the same time hes giving credit for this and this is the same abuse that [Cubans] been taking” the rapper said on Fox Sports 1’s “Undisputed.”
Snoop’s take is extremely nearsighted. How could an American of African descent looking to carry on the legacy of combating white supremacy in the United States disparage the positive aspects of a man who sat with Malcolm X, was friends with Nelson Mandela and who helped Black farmers in the US? Indeed, there are thousands of Cubans who have a negative take on Castro’s legacy, understandably and rightly so. However, African Americans have had very few friends in the struggle and Castro was seen as a friend to Black Americans.
For a man who has never used his celebrity status to criticize the industrialized genocide that has been perfected by the United States, Snoop saying something about Cuba seems ridiculous.
Like Lil’ Wayne, Shaq and Charles Barkley before him, Snoop seems to have lost sight of the struggle and fight that those before him partook in which helped place him in a position where he could achieve success.
Good thing Kaep hasn’t.
