Ben Carson Refers to Slaves as ‘Immigrants’ in First Remarks to HUD Staff -
By LIAM STACKMARCH 6, 2017
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson made the comment during a speech to department employees Monday.
“You can be an involuntary immigrant,” he said, adding
that “slaves didn’t just give up and die, our ancestors made something of themselves.” He continued, “An immigrant is: ‘a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.’”
Mr. Carson’s speech was not the first time that a newly minted Trump official has caused offense with their handling of African-American history.
Ben Carson’s first full week as secretary of Housing
and Urban Development got off to a rough start on Monday after he described African slaves as “immigrants” during his first speech to hundreds of assembled department employees.
Last week, the new education secretary, Betsy DeVos, caused an uproar by describing historically black colleges
and universities — founded because black students were not allowed to attend segregated white schools — as “real pioneers” of school choice.
But they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandsons,
great-granddaughters, might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.”
The comparison was first reported by USA Today and quickly drew the ire of social media users who attacked
the secretary, who is African-American, for what they saw as racially insensitive comments.