In Ben Carson’s first official address as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, he hit what one might call a snag with his declaration that slaves were immigrants.
This is not a drill.
Here is the full quote:
"That's what America is about. A land of dreams and opportunity. There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less." — Ben Carson
This may sound like a middle school report, but slaves were not immigrants.
Immigration is about choice. The definition of immigration is, "The action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country."
The action. Of making a choice to come and live in another country. While immigration includes plenty of issues and tribulations, it is not close to that experienced by slaves.
Slaves were stolen from their country. They worked from sunrise to sunset in grueling conditions. With poor diets and malnutrition running rampant, it was easy to see why the death rate among slaves was so high. Many of the women would find themselves pregnant from the constant rape that occurred from their “masters”. Some would have better lives, being able to work inside the house, but this was rare and most of the slaves worked outside.
Transportation was a nightmare. With hundreds of people on one ship, it left no room for anyone. Others near you would die aboard, and you had to continue to lay in the silence. Immigration can also have troubling means to get to their destination, and sometimes may include death, but this does not mean that they were the same thing.
While many scrutinize politicians for what they say, sometimes they overlook what really matters. It matters that everyone understand that immigration, while is a rough road, is not slavery. There have been plenty of articles posted about how immigration is hard for people, including my article on why you should care about immigration, but this does not lessen the unspeakable deaths and pain that slavery caused. For being a man of high political standards, you could say that Ben Carson’s statements are nonsensical and quite a bit alarming.
