Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson suggested that welfare is more harmful to the black community than slavery.
Carson made the comments during a discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday.
“When you look at what the Black community has been through, go all the way back to slavery. It was the family, the strong family units and the faith in God that got people through that, that got people through Jim Crow, through severe segregation, through all the difficulties,” Carson said.
“But what really had a negative impact was when the government came along said, ‘There, there, you poor little thing, I’m going to take care of all your needs’ and started implementing policies that were destructive to the family formation,” he continued. “Those are the things that have hurt the Black communities the most.”
