Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has come under fire this week for referring to slaves as “immigrants” -- but his former adviser has come to his defense, saying former President Barack Obama used similar language in 2015.
In his first speech to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) staffers on Monday, Carson referred to “immigrants” who came to the U.S. in “slave ships.”
“There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less,” he said. “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.”
Armstrong Williams, a former adviser and spokesman for Carson’s 2016 presidential bid, defended his former boss’s comments in an op-ed for The Hill, by saying Obama also had compared the experiences of immigrants and slaves in past speeches.
“The outrage was immediate, but President Obama made similar comments during a ceremony for newly naturalized U.S. citizens on Dec. 15, 2015,” Williams wrote.
He called Carson a “man of integrity” and said he knows Carson didn’t mean to belittle the experience of slaves coming to the U.S.
“I have known Dr. Carson for 25 years. His intent with his original comments was to shine a light on the values and aspirations that we share,” Williams wrote. “It was certainly not to offend anyone. As he noted later, the slavery experience and the immigrant experience could not be more different.”
While Armstrong is correct that Obama referred to the experience of immigrants and slaves in the same speech, the context was different than Carson’s comments -- Obama made it clear that slaves had no choice in the matter. “[T]hose of African heritage who had not come here voluntarily,” he said.
“It wasn’t always easy for new immigrants,” Obama said in that 2015 ceremony. “Certainly, it wasn’t easy for those of African heritage who had not come here voluntarily and yet in their own way were immigrants themselves. There was discrimination and hardship and poverty.”
The HUD secretary has made the same point about slaves and immigrants in the past. The remarks he made in August 2015 were nearly identical on this anecdote to his telling this week, except for the inclusion of the word “involuntarily.” He said then that “other immigrants came here involuntarily in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less. But they, too, had a dream that one day their great grandsons and great granddaughters might pursue freedom and prosperity in this land.”
Carson himself later revisited the topic in comments in a Facebook post, saying immigrants and slaves had “two entirely different experiences,” though he made no reference to his earlier remarks at HUD.
“Slaves were ripped from their families and their homes and forced against their will after being sold into slavery by slave traders,” he wrote. “The Immigrants made the choice to come to America ….The two experiences should never be intertwined, nor forgotten, as we demand the necessary progress towards an America that’s inclusive and provides access to equal opportunity for all.”
Emily Schultheis
Emily Schultheis is a reporter/editor for CBS News Digital.
Former aide defends Ben Carson's comments calling slaves "immigrants"
By Emily Schultheis
/ CBS News
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has come under fire this week for referring to slaves as “immigrants” -- but his former adviser has come to his defense, saying former President Barack Obama used similar language in 2015.
In his first speech to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) staffers on Monday, Carson referred to “immigrants” who came to the U.S. in “slave ships.”
“There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less,” he said. “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.”
Armstrong Williams, a former adviser and spokesman for Carson’s 2016 presidential bid, defended his former boss’s comments in an op-ed for The Hill, by saying Obama also had compared the experiences of immigrants and slaves in past speeches.
“The outrage was immediate, but President Obama made similar comments during a ceremony for newly naturalized U.S. citizens on Dec. 15, 2015,” Williams wrote.
He called Carson a “man of integrity” and said he knows Carson didn’t mean to belittle the experience of slaves coming to the U.S.
“I have known Dr. Carson for 25 years. His intent with his original comments was to shine a light on the values and aspirations that we share,” Williams wrote. “It was certainly not to offend anyone. As he noted later, the slavery experience and the immigrant experience could not be more different.”
While Armstrong is correct that Obama referred to the experience of immigrants and slaves in the same speech, the context was different than Carson’s comments -- Obama made it clear that slaves had no choice in the matter. “[T]hose of African heritage who had not come here voluntarily,” he said.
“It wasn’t always easy for new immigrants,” Obama said in that 2015 ceremony. “Certainly, it wasn’t easy for those of African heritage who had not come here voluntarily and yet in their own way were immigrants themselves. There was discrimination and hardship and poverty.”
The HUD secretary has made the same point about slaves and immigrants in the past. The remarks he made in August 2015 were nearly identical on this anecdote to his telling this week, except for the inclusion of the word “involuntarily.” He said then that “other immigrants came here involuntarily in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less. But they, too, had a dream that one day their great grandsons and great granddaughters might pursue freedom and prosperity in this land.”
Carson himself later revisited the topic in comments in a Facebook post, saying immigrants and slaves had “two entirely different experiences,” though he made no reference to his earlier remarks at HUD.
“Slaves were ripped from their families and their homes and forced against their will after being sold into slavery by slave traders,” he wrote. “The Immigrants made the choice to come to America ….The two experiences should never be intertwined, nor forgotten, as we demand the necessary progress towards an America that’s inclusive and provides access to equal opportunity for all.”
In:- Slavery
- Immigration
- Barack Obama
Emily Schultheis is a reporter/editor for CBS News Digital.
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