WS Chronicle

We had almost forgotten about some of the insidious statements Dr. Ben Carson, who is running as a Republican for the presidency of these United States, had been making since announcing his candidacy. Having already forgiven him for being a Republican, we assumed that he would at least embrace his own culture in seeking the political pinnacle of public service.

Not so. Dr. Carson has denied everything related to being black, including the suffering of his own kind for 400 years in this country. We had no idea that Dr. Carson would even deny the cruelty and dehumanization of black Americans. He has been quoted saying that for the last 150 years, there has never been a question in this country about race. We beg to differ.

Ever since the first Africans were unloaded in this country on the shores of Jamestown, Virginia, blacks have been viewed as less than human. Many Caucasians feel that way today. Many of our laws stem from attempts to control the minds, hearts, freedom and equality of African-Americans.

Laws were created after the Civil War that prohibited blacks from standing in one place for longer than 10 or 15 minutes lest they be charged with vagrancy and sent to jail. Practically any white person could arrest a black person during those times and turn them over to a magistrate, a police officer or judge or just about anybody where they were immediately sentenced to serve time working in the coal minds owned by U.S. Steel. For the most part, that would have been the last anyone saw of that person.

Dr. Carson knows this and yet he continues to present himself as a successful self-made man. He is where he is because of the sacrifices made by his forebears. He disrespects every Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, Frederick Douglas, “Toby,” and millions of others who suffered the cruelty of the institution of slavery. That’s not making excuses, that’s honoring the people who withstood this pain and suffereing for us.  Even John Brown, a white abolitionist, had a reverence and a disdain for how American slaves were treated.

Now, today, we have a “black” bigot who dares to speak disparagingly about Muslims and his own people calling President Obama a Muslim. Or, at least not acknowledging that the President is an American of Christian faith.

Winston-Salem will get to see Dr. Ben up close next week. We know we’ll not get a chance to ask any questions given the folk he has surrounded himself with like Vernon Robinson. Remember our local black Republican councilman? He works for Dr. Ben, as does former B&C Associates of High Point’s Armstrong Williams. There are plenty of other black Americans who can smell the cash of being a lackey for the Republican Party.

We’re neither trying to inflame or create animosity about the party. We’re just stating the facts. What do you call someone who is fat with cash and the means and access to get it, yet refuses to allow the poor a decent wage? A party that is stuffed with guaranteed government contracts yet refuses to give a fair share to minority contractors? Or, won’t accept $500,000 for medical aid to the poor and elderly? Even the homeless and the hungry get cut out of everything when these folk finish chopping and cutting the nation’s budget. All to make a black president look like a failure. And, to see black men supporting this insanity is enough to make one ill.

However, for everyone there is a day of reckoning. May not be tomorrow but always and for everyone there is a day of reckoning. Watch out Dr. Ben … yours will come too!