Ben Carson Refers to Slaves as ‘Immigrants’ in First Remarks to HUD Staff -<br />By LIAM STACKMARCH 6, 2017<br />Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson made the comment during a speech to department employees Monday.<br />“You can be an involuntary immigrant,” he said, adding<br />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.’”<br />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.<br />Ben Carson’s first full week as secretary of Housing<br />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.<br />Last week, the new education secretary, Betsy DeVos, caused an uproar by describing historically black colleges<br />and universities — founded because black students were not allowed to attend segregated white schools — as “real pioneers” of school choice.<br />But they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandsons,<br />great-granddaughters, might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.”<br />The comparison was first reported by USA Today and quickly drew the ire of social media users who attacked<br />the secretary, who is African-American, for what they saw as racially insensitive comments.
