Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick marked the Fourth of July holiday by criticizing the United States.
Kaepernick, who sparked nationwide controversy last year when he refused to stand for the national anthem before the 49ers' games, sent out at tweet Tuesday asking how Americans can celebrate their independence given the nation's history of slavery and discrimination.
"How can we truly celebrate independence on a day that intentionally robbed our ancestors of theirs?" Kaepernick tweeted. He continued by writing, "to find my independence I went home."
The tweet included video footage of Kaepernick's recent trip to Ghana, which, presumably, is where his ancestors lived.
How can we truly celebrate independence on a day that intentionally robbed our ancestors of theirs? To find my independence I went home. pic.twitter.com/hniYGJeLxG
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) July 4, 2017
Ghana is also, however, home to numerous human rights problems, according to a 2010 U.S. State Department report.
According to the report, human rights problems in Ghana included:
...the use of excessive force by police, which resulted in deaths and injuries; ethnic killings and vigilante violence; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; police impunity; prolonged pretrial detention; arbitrary arrest of journalists; corruption in all branches of government; violence against women and children, including female genital mutilation (FGM); societal discrimination against women, persons with disabilities, gays and lesbians, and persons with HIV/AIDS; trafficking in women and children; ethnic discrimination and politically motivated violence; and child labor, including forced child labor.
The video in Kaepernick's tweet shows him posing for pictures with African children, visiting patients at a hospital and watching African dances.
Locals greeted the NFL star with a huge banner that read, "Welcome home Colin." Another sign read, "Welcome to Attito, Nessa and Colin."
Nessa Diab is Kaepernick's girlfriend.
The video in Kaepernick's tweet concluded by quoting Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah.
“I am not African because I was born in Africa but because Africa was born in me,” the video quoted Nkrumah as saying.
Nkrumah became Ghana's first president in 1960 after leading the country to gain independence from Great Britain in 1957.
Marxists.org features a brief biography of Nkrumah on its website, stating that Nkrumah's "dream" was to have "United States of African."
Biography.com described Nkrumah as a "nationalist leader."
The University of Pennsylvania's African Studies Center described Nkrumah's political views as leaning more "toward socialism rather than to capitalism or communism."
In 1966, Nkrumah was overthrown from office while visiting China.
(H/T: Daily Caller)
