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Ben Carson Says Enslaved Africans Were Immigrants Who Came to America with a Dream

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

Dr. Ben Carson sent Twitter into a tizzy when he outlandishly said enslaved Africans were “immigrants” during a speech to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

On Monday, March 6, the HUD Secretary spoke to employees for an hour, discussing how his background in neurosurgery prepared him for his new role and American exceptionalism, something he has talked about in the past.

“That’s what America is about, a land of dreams and opportunity,” Carson said. “There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less. 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.”

In reaction, Twitter had a field day with the retired neurosurgeon, chiding him for his lack of historical knowledge.

https://twitter.com/__itssmo/status/838864250206629890

Celebrities and activists also weighed in.

Others questioned his ability to head the HUD department.

https://twitter.com/RomanoMarko/status/838852483833184256

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