Jason Whitlock draws bizarre conclusion from Colin Kaepernick’s latest move - “He’s a Marxist”

You know it's the offseason when Colin Kaepernick becomes one of the most trending players in the NFL. Since taking a knee during the national anthem in 2016 and following his exit from the league, the quarterback has managed to remain relevant in a way almost no other quarterback with his on-field accomplishments has managed to do.

Jason Whitlock made this clear once again in a comment made on a news story about the quarterback, appearing to present the information as an "Aha, I told you."

The news story posted by Mediaite using quotes from the New Republic appears to reveal that the former quarterback joined Marxists to help edit his new book because "black liberation simply isn't possible under Capitalism."

Whitlock's response essentially insinuated that the quarterback was quiet about his political leanings so that when he took a knee, he wouldn't turn off or otherwise shoot his messaging in the foot. Here's how he put it:

"I love Kap's honesty here. He's a Marxists and should've made that clear in 2016 when he took a knee."

What is Marxism?

Colin Kaepernick at 2019 US Open - Day 4

As a reminder, Marxists are significantly further left on the political spectrum than most Democrats. There are some technical differences between Marxism and Communism, but the two terms are so closely related and most people use the terms interchangeably in a way that unless one is talking to a political scholar, they're essentially synonyms.

Just to clarify, Marxism is a political and economic theory developed by Karl Marx, while Communism is a political ideology and socioeconomic system that aims to establish a classless society.

Due to the Cold War and the decades-long economic battle between the United States and the USSR, Communism, and Marxism essentially became synonyms for dictatorships and evil in most circles in the country. Anyone who argued even one percent differently was quick to be ostracised by most and attacked legally at worst via McCarthyism and various red scares of the mid-1900s.

That said, with the Cold War thought of as over from the 1990s until at least the late 2010s, the thought of the system of governance brought about by Communism as the enemy began to soften a bit. It was during this era that Colin Kaepernick was born.

Why is Colin Kaepernick unafraid to contact Marxists?

Colin Kaepernick at San Francisco 49ers v Los Angeles Rams

Born in 1987, the quarterback grew up in the first years of the post-Cold War society. He was essentially some of the first people who learn about the tense situation after it happened.

As such, looking at the system with a fresh set of eyes, Kaepernick wasn't able to use the Cold War experience of older generations to dissuade himself from seeing what he saw as selling points of the system of government, with workers getting evenly split access to the proceeds generated by the production instead of trickle-down economics brought about by Capitalism.

Would Colin Kaepernick have garnered the same level of attention and support had he made known his political leanings?