And truth be told, if you bothered to drill down on some of Carson's BS, you might get a little nervous too. ;)
We love to hear stories about people overcoming great odds to achieve success. What is ignored when reciting the stories of the Carsons, Thomases, and Rices of the world is the depth of the chasm that lay between Africans in America and later the African-American community and white America. There have always been personal successes in the midst of the collective or group struggle. During the 18th century while hundreds of thousands and later millions of Africans in America were bound by the shackles of slavery, individuals such as Olaudah Equiano, aka "Equiano, the African" and James Forten found success on American shores. Did the success of Equiano, Forten and others negate the suffering and systemic oppression of those enslaved? Obviously not.
Today, there are still mountains of disturbing data documenting the disparity between the African-American community and whites. African-Americans currently see 18 percent unemployment, and make up 53 percent of those incarcerated (even though they are only 13 percent of the US population). Wealth disparities, high school dropout rates, college graduation rates and home foreclosure rates echo the persistence of deep racial disparities. Still, the likes of a Wardell Connerly, Shelby Steele, or Clarence Thomas stand before conservatives and argue that we no longer need affirmative action, Head Start and other social programs.
Individual success should never become the standard measure of success for the collective. It is only through group success that the African-American community will truly become politically and economically empowered.
Dr. Carson made some very inaccurate and dangerous statements during his CPAC speech that cannot go unchallenged. He stated as referenced above, "Nobody is starving on the streets (of America)." According to Bread for the World, "14.5 percent of US households struggle to put enough food on the table. More than 48 million Americans - including 16.2 million children - live in these households … Among African-Americans and Latinos, nearly one in three children is at risk of hunger." Has Carson forgotten that in 1951 he may have been one of those hungry children?
He also stated, "Many people don't know this, but socialism started as a reaction to America because people in Europe, they looked at us and said, 'Wait a minute, look at those Americans … people like Henry Ford, Kellogg, Vanderbilt … they've got so much money …' it needs to be redistributed." Actually, the term socialism is attributed to Pierre Leroux and Robert Owen around 1827. Henry Ford was not born until 1863. Socialist models and ideas espousing common or public ownership have existed since antiquity. Karl Marx, considered by many to be the founder of modern socialism, first published Das Kapital in 1847. Henry Ford was 4 years old. Socialism was actually a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, which started in Britain around 1760.
Complaining of the "war on God," Carson said, "People don't want to talk about God. ... Let's let everybody believe what they want to believe. And that means, PC police, don't you be coming down on the people who believe in God and who believe in Jesus." Actually, the basis of the free exercise clause of the First Amendment is the freedom to believe. It is one of the few absolute protections that the Constitution provides. There is a big difference between belief and imposing belief or practice on others through coercion by the state. If Carson understood the Constitution, he would know that.
Dr. Carson has a very motivational story, but his political analysis and message lack the real understanding of the issues necessary to be taken seriously. It is dangerous to use the success of an individual as the basis of a sociological or economic indictment of an entire class of individuals. A reporter once asked Dr. Carson why he never talked about race - to which he responded, "…because I'm a neurosurgeon." Well, Dr. Carson, I'll make a deal with you, I'll stay out of the operating room if you leave the political analysis and dialogue to trained professionals.
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