Obama's Policies Have Hurt African Americans, Says Neurosurgeon Ben Carson
If President Obama wants to be a hero in the African-American community, he should do something to alleviate the "abominable" black unemployment rate in America, says renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson.
The head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md., who was the first surgeon to separate conjoined twins, told The Christian Post on Thursday that the economic policies being pursued by the Obama administration has resulted in an "abominable" unemployment rate in the African-American community.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, black unemployment stood at 13.8 percent in January, more than double the unemployment rate of whites, which was measured at 6.6 percent for the same period. A year ago the black unemployment rate was 14.2 percent, less than half a percent point higher. White unemployment, however, fell more than one percent in the last year from a high of eight percent.
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"I think the best thing that he (President Obama) can possibly do that will help minorities is to enact policies that allow for growth of the economy," said Carson. "Because when you look at the employment rate for instance in the African American community, it's abominable. And the policies that have been enacted have only made it worse. They have not made it better. So if he really wanted to be a hero in that community, let's start doing some things that make sense economically and get the money flowing."
Carson, who became a subject of national conversation after he criticized policies being pursued by the Obama administration at the National Prayer Breakfast last month, also said both the Republican and Democratic parties had issues when it came to diversity and leveraging government policies for the advancement of minority groups.
"I think both parties have a diversity problem to be honest with you. I think in many cases one party has been able to get a lot of people who are of meager means to be dependent. And to make them believe that, that party is on their side. And I think that that has been a successful political strategy," said Carson.
"However, a lot of those people have a superiority complex and they promote programs that keep a certain segment of the population quite subservient and happy to be there as long as they're providing things for them rather than using those same resources to create mechanisms of elevating those people and moving them up," he added.
Carson, who has increasingly fielded questions about his political ambitions, reiterated that he had no plans to enter politics but will continue to be open to God's guidance. "…I have no interest in running for political office. And that is the way I am gearing my life right now, but I also recognize that I am a servant of God and I will always do what I feel God is calling upon me to do. Right now I don't feel he is calling me to go into politics," said Carson.
And in a shot at Columbia University's political science professor Fredrick Harris, who said America knows nothing about the neurosurgeon's politics, Carson encouraged Harris to go read his books.
"Well what I would simply say to that professor at Columbia is, 'my politics are extremely well laid out in all the books that I've written and particularly in the last book, America the Beautiful. If you don't know what my political stance is after reading that you're a moron,'" said Carson.
