Ben Carson compares criticism of Black conservatives to ‘runaway’ slaves
Carson believes that institutional racism is what Black conservatives face
Dr. Ben Carson likened himself and Black conservatives to runaway slaves who were abused and made examples of in order to instill fear into others because of their beliefs.
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The former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development who served from 2017 to 2021 is the latest guest on the podcast Outloud with Gianno Caldwell. The episode, uploaded on Monday, features the two conservative Black men discussing the perception of Black Republicans.
Carson likened his treatment to that of slaves that were abused and then ultimately killed as a warning.
“Just remember that this is not anything that’s any different than many, many years ago during slavery. If you ran away and you got caught, they didn’t just kill you. They brought you back and tormented you in front of everyone else so that you would get the lesson: Do not run away,” the retired neurosurgeon said.
“And it’s the same lesson now. Do not depart from what we told you. Do not think for yourself and if you do, we’re gonna try and make an example of you so other people won’t do it. But the way I see it, you have to just ask yourself, ‘What is the right thing to do?’ You have to pray and ask God to give you wisdom and move forward.”
Carson insisted that Democrats were intimidated by the Trump administration and their outreach to the African American community. However, activists claim that voter suppression has been prominent since Donald Trump lost his re-election bid in November.
According to the Brennan Center, more than 250 bills have been introduced in 43 states that would limit early voting and enforce strict voter ID laws. There would also be limits on absentee voting the use of dropbox ballots.
In Georgia, the onslaught of bills undermining access to the ballot box by the GOP led former President Jimmy Carter to speak out.
“American democracy means every eligible person has the right to vote in an election that is fair, open, and secure,” Carter said. “It should be flexible enough to meet the electorate’s changing needs,” Carter said last week.
Nonetheless, Carson reserved his criticism for Democrats. He blasted the Democratic party as making the Black community dependent on the government for assistance.
He claimed Black people were realizing “they are being used and manipulated, and I think that’s one of the reasons why they were so much fear of the last administration because they were doing things that were very helpful of the African American community, and a lot of people were starting to notice and they didn’t want that.”
Caldwell also spoke about Black people accepting “victimhood.” Carson claimed institutional racism existed for policing the thought of Black conservatives.
“I think the place where it is exists is among the people who see someone like me or someone like you and decide how they must think based on their race,” Carson said.
“That’s the institutional racism but in terms of our society, I grew up in Detroit and in Boston, late 50’s and the 60’s and believe me, I can tell you real racism when I see it. We had to deal with it everyday. It’s nothing like that today.”
Carson also insisted that the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police was an isolated incident rather than an example of pervasive racism.
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“You take something like the George Floyd case which was horrible. Absolutely horrible. No excuse there, but that is an incredibly unusual situation and to try and take that and make it seem like an everyday experience, I think is a real distortion of what’s going on.”
Listen to the full interview below.
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