Ben Carson’s hometown wants to remove his name from Detroit high school as HUD secretary’s legacy continues to disintegrate for Trump ties
Ben Carson’s hometown wants to distance itself from the HUD secretary because he’s a disgrace for his ties to President Donald Trump and school board officials have voted to remove his name from a Detroit high school.
—Black teen racially profiled during class assignment on, well, racism—
Carson’s work as a groundbreaking neurosurgeon earned him the distinction of having The Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine named after him. But the Detroit Board of Education doesn’t think he’s much of a role model for his decision to join Trump’s cabinet and for running as a Republican in the 2016 election. Instead they are electing to rename the school and on Tuesday voted 6-1 to start the public process to solicit for new names, the Detroit News reports
“When you align yourself with Trump, that is a direct affront to the city of Detroit and the students of Detroit,” said board member LeMar Lemmons earlier this year.
The voters in that area, Lemmons said, “don’t support the [Trump] administration.”
“We don’t want to be premature. The community will have input and influence the process,” Lemmons said.
Carson was once a prominent and well-respected Black surgeon who was held in high regard as a role model for kids of color. But his decision to join Trump’s administration and work against the betterment of those in poorer communities as head of HUD have left many severing ties with a man who doesn’t have the best interest of the Black community at heart.
At the Archbishop Borders School in Baltimore, the city where Carson spent most of his career, his portrait was reportedly taken down from the hallway in August because “He was starting to become offensive,” officials said.
—Vintage video shows young Andrew Gillum speaking about 2002 Florida recount—
Earlier this year Carson withdrew “a proposed policy… that required shelters to hang a poster alerting residents of their anti-discrimination laws,” and “a proposed survey designed to evaluate the impact of the LGBTQ Youth Homelessness Preventative Initiative.”
Additionally, he ordered the HUD website to remove “a guide instructing HUD grantees on how to ensure equal access to transgender people”, as well as “a self-abasement tool that allows shelters to evaluate how well they are doing in compliance with anti-discrimination regulations and best practices.”
Carson also axed six key HUD anti-discrimination resources designed specifically to eliminate and protect LGBTQ persons.
