RantCrush Top 5: March 7, 2017

Yesterday, Ben Carson, who was recently confirmed as the Housing and Urban Development Secretary, made a weird remark in his first official speech at a town hall event. He referred to slaves as “immigrants.” When talking about the American Dream, he said, “there were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less.”

via GIPHY

Carson’s nomination for HUD secretary surprised many, as he is a neurosurgeon with no experience in housing policy or governmental work. He also has a history of controversial remarks regarding slavery–he has called Obamacare “the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery.” According to an attendee at Monday’s event, no one in the room made the connection that he equated slaves with immigrants, but people on social media reacted swiftly.

“Slaves are immigrants” – Tomorrow Ben Carson will say prisoners are volunteers and the homeless are fresh air enthusiasts chilling. #Moron

— Hafiz Shariff (@HafizDoc) March 7, 2017

So not only did Ben Carson call slaves “immigrants” he also cut funding to NYCHA (public housing) through his new job at HUD. 😡😡

— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) March 7, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.