Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson joined Roland Martin on TV One’s NewsOne Now to share his views on the 2016 race for the White House, the Black Lives Matter movement, the GOP’s outreach to African-American voters, Donald Trump, and more. I don’t think anybody’s going to object to that.
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As talk turned to the #BlackLivesMatter movement and his stance on police brutality, Carson mentioned that he took a trip to Ferguson, Missouri to meet with members of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, a visit that he admits to being moved by.
Noting that Republicans only receive “between one and seven percent of the black vote in the last four presidential elections”, Kurtz wondered what the GOP could do to turn this around.
If Dr. Carson really wants to be President of the United States and not just a hero among conservatives, he needs to grasp reality, stop portraying the Uncle Ben character and acknowledge the right now truth: Black Lives Matter aren’t bullies but are fighting back against a racist system that has bullied them; they’re, in fact, fighting for their lives. Despite his increasing block of supporters, Carson’s standing in the black community has been shaky as perceptions paint him as a Black man who doesn’t harbor much interest in his own community.
“To run as a non-politician is less stressful, because politicians always have to have their finger up in the air saying which way is the wind blowing, what’s politically expedient, and I don’t have to do that”, Carson said. At the same time, I recognize that they’re trying to say that they feel that they’ve been treated unfairly. “When we get off into a little thing that says, ‘No, this is the only thing you can say, ‘ that’s sickening to me”, he said, according to the report. And freedom of expression.
Carson spoke about several different topics such as his humble up bringing, the upcoming republican debate, respect between police and the community and the importance of the state of South Carolina.
“I like the fact that he’s outside of the established political profession – he’s someone who wants to unite the country, rather than divide”, Wittig said. Of course we need to extend respect to everyone.
Carson continued, “And now the question is, ‘Do we have the courage to stand up for what we believe in?’ Because see, today in America people have become frightened to stand up for what they actually believe in. They did it for you and for me so that we could be free, so that we could live in prosperity”.
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Of Ferguson, he said to CBS reporter Major Garrett while touring the city, “For me it conjured up an image of the people feeling that they have been unjustly treated by the police and that justifies civil disturbance. No matter where they are in the world, it’s us”, said Dr. Carson.
