Although everyone agrees that black lives matter, the Black Lives Matter organization is something else entirely, according to Dr. Ben Carson, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Carson discussed the difference in an interview with Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum. He questioned how those painting “Black Lives Matter” on public streets would respond if someone were to paint a Confederate flag on a public street.
Carson said the Black Lives Matter organization “espouses things like taking down the model of western family structure, talking about defunding the police and a host of things on their websites, the Marxist influence.”
“These are things that are antithetical to the American model and to patriotism in this country,” he said. “So I think there are a lot of innocent and good people who think black lives matter just means we should be taking care of our black citizens and making sure they are not discriminated against, and that is noble and laudable. But we have an organization that is taking advantage of the fact that people don’t really know what’s behind a Marxist-driven organization.”
MacCallum asked Carson what he thought about Trump calling out those who are painting “Black Lives Matter” on public streets.
READ: Carson says statue removal is “ridiculous”
“The larger question is, when you’re in a public forum, a public square, do you have the right to put on there a political statement?” Carson said. “I wonder what people would say if somebody painted a Confederate flag on a public street We really need to take into consideration those things. On private property, absolutely do whatever you want to. This is a free country. But we have to recognize that when we put political symbols on public property we have to take responsibility for that.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice