Ben Carson (1951- ), an American brain surgeon, ran for US president as a Republican in 2016. He dropped out on March 4th, soon after Super Tuesday. He now backs Donald Trump for president. He was the only Black person to run for president in 2016 in either of the two main parties.
Carson was best known as a brain surgeon at Johns Hopkins, one of the top hospitals in the country. He is famous for separating twins joined at the head.
He was also known for writing “Gifted Hands” (1990), his story of how he came up from poverty in Detroit to become a famous brain surgeon. It has led to nine other books, two documentaries, a film starring Cuba Gooding, Jr, a play in Baltimore and Carson travelling the country as a motivational speaker.
He seems to be strangely calm. He says it is a gift from God: at age 14, after stabbing someone with a knife, he prayed to God to take away his angry, violent nature. The press doubts that.
In 2013 he left medicine and went into politics. John Philip Sousa IV, the great grandson of the famous band leader, raised millions for him to run for president – even before Carson said he would run.
Carson on ObamaCare, President Obama’s health care reforms:
“ObamaCare is the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. In a way, it is slavery, because it is making all of us subservient to the government.”
On same-sex marriage:
“My thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It’s a well-established, fundamental pillar of society, and no group – be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality – it doesn’t matter what they are – they don’t get to change the definition.”
He is also against gun control and birthright citizenship. His position on abortion is more extreme than that of his church (Seventh Day Adventist).
Although scientifically literate, he does not believe in evolution or climate change.
Race: As a self-made millionaire, he is a big believer in bootstraps. But he also knows that Black people are not imagining racism.
He is good at public speaking and raising money. He is not good at dealing with the press.
As a serious, right-wing Christian – the kind who certainly would never say “Two Corinthians” – he appealed mainly to White Evangelical Christians, a big part of the Republican voter base.
His height in the opinion polls came in November 2015 on the eve of terrorist attacks in Paris. A fourth of Republicans supported him, making him tied for first place with Donald Trump. Since then his numbers dropped, never to recover, presumably because he seemed lost on foreign policy.
On Hillary Clinton becoming president:
“She’s going to get two to four Supreme Court picks. Now, that’s going to, I think, ruin the future for our children, our grandchildren, all of our progeny. I think that’s just as bad as taking a knife and stabbing them with it.”
On Donald Trump: Carson says that offstage Trump is a serious, thoughtful person who loves his country.
– Abagond, 2016.
See also:
- The 2016 election for US president
- Black endorsements in the 2016 election for US president
- bootstraps
- Republicans
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I remember Bill Maher referred to Carson as a “smart-stupid person”. I honestly don’t know what to make of him. The image of him that I now have in my head is certainly different from the one I had of him a few years ago. Granted, I never knew much about him in the first place.
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I have researched a little about this individual.
I watch a video of him giving a speech in which he provided a step by step description of the neurological process by which you speak,
something I’ve not heard form any other expert in the field of neurology or any other related science.
As to his sociological views on certain issues – we must remember and I experience this every day – there is enormous pressure from every group including most black people and most females to be subservient to white dominace in all aspects of life.
and its backed up by continous and well disciplined lying about this goal by all groups including most black people and most women resulting in exclusive white male only occupations and activiies.
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“ObamaCare is the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. In a way, it is slavery, because it is making all of us subservient to the government.”
Does he oppose the draft, because that’s an even more blatant way of making people subservient to the government?
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I had issues with Carson’s on camera multiple lengthy eye closures.
It was as if he was going off on vacation somewhere for a few seconds during his times to answer questions.
I give him (and God… the Black one) props for getting him to where he is, from where he came from. I could not have been easy!
I think a lot of white people liked him because he is/was the quintessential “pull yourself up by your boot-straps” Black person white people like to point to as an example.
“If Ben Carson could do, why can’t you all do it?”
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A waste of good Blackness.
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Like Paula Patton said in Baggage Claim, I don’t trust ‘black’ Republicans.
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Just my opinion but Carson should just stick to medicine I think he is a joke as politician.I never dreamed in a million years I would behavior the disgust that I have for him in this day and time. Had no idea what a handkerchief head he was. Shaking my head.
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Typo^^^ I never dreamed in a million years I would be so disgusted and disappointed with him the way I am today.
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“ObamaCare is the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. In a way, it is slavery, because it is making all of us subservient to the government.” Dr. Ben Carson
I guess Mr. Carson forgot about the Jim Crow era which lasted for approximately 63 years from around 1877 to the beginning of the civil rights movement in the 1950s.
I guess he forgot about the Black Codes era where former slaves were literally re-enslaved after the Civil War. Former slave masters were essentially given a pass to reclaim their land, force black folks to once again hit the fields running with a plowshare in hand. In other words, it was slavery by another name.
I guess Mr. Carson also forgot about sharecropping as well. I’ll stop here, some of us so-called high-mined Negroes are thoroughly blinded when seeking the glory and accolades of white folks and respectability of an Amerikan political system that has never respected us as a people (smh).
He needs to pluck his head out of Donald Trump’s ass and then speak for himself!
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You can’t totally blame this individual for any discrepancies but I wouldn’t want this brain surgeon to compromise care for certain individuals. He’s just no there despite his accolades.. But I can understand how his opinions had to be have formed from his experiences. You can’t beat em so literally join at the subconscious level. I trust a nice smart liberal white brain surgeon over this fool any nano second of life.
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Kiwi, I completely agree with your sentiment and get what you mean but…some Muslims are black.
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I read all his books in high school.
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Could not believe it when I heard of Elridge Cleaver. Too strange.
Only nice thing I can say about Carson is that he looked like the handsome Teddy Pendergrass when he was younger.
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Ben Carson Hillary Clinton becoming president:
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(rereading this post I can see that Carson has a thing for knives.)
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Reblogged this on Project ENGAGE.
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