DON LEMON: I want to play
Secretary, Ben Carson, addressing
his department employees where he appears to compare
slaves to immigrants.
He begins talking about the photos of people
who came here to Ellis Island.
BEN CARSON: Not eight hours a day but 10, 12, 16 hours a day.
No such thing as a minimum wage.
They worked not for themselves but for their sons
and their daughters and their grandsons
and their granddaughters that they might have
an opportunity in this land.
That's what America is about.
A land of dreams and opportunities.
There were other immigrants who came here
in the bottom of slave ships.
Worked even longer, even harder for less.
But they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters,
grandsons, granddaughters, great grandsons, great granddaughters
might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.
DON LEMON: So Shermichael I have to go
to you first because you used to work for Ben Carson at HUD.
Can you give us some insight as to what he meant here
and why he would say that?
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON: Look Don, Dr. Carson
has released a statement that was posted to his Facebook page
about an hour ago where he did clarify the remarks that he
made earlier today when he was addressing
the career staff at the agency.
And in those remarks--
in that clarification-- he made it very clear that in no way
was he attempting to compare the slave narrative
to the immigrant narrative.
The two are extremely disparate and afforded
to that our ancestors displayed when
being forced into this country is
something that I don't think anyone
would attempt to challenge.
DON LEMON: But Shermichael--
I understand what you're saying. Hold on.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON: Don--
DON LEMON: No, no, no, no, no-- it doesn't work that way.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON: Go ahead.
DON LEMON: Because you said that he wasn't attempting
to but that's exactly what he did by comparing
people from Ellis Island.
By the way, slaves couldn't even come through Ellis Island
or see the Statue of Liberty because it
wasn't during that time.
That's the whole point.
Those are two different experiences.
But he himself was comparing it.
Maybe in his explanation he said that, but if you listen to it,
that's what he said.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON: Don, I'm not disagreeing with the facts
as it pertains to slavery and immigrants
coming from European countries into America.
That's not what I am attempting to do.
What I'm saying is that Dr. Carson made a statement.
Clearly, Dr. Carson has recognized that his statements
were not the best ones at that time
and clarified those statements.
He went to Armstrong's Williams show, he provided--
DON LEMON: I get what you're saying.
I get what you're saying.
You're saying he clarified it.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON: He provided
even further clarification on Facebook.
DON LEMON: I played the sound bite from the Armstrong--
I get what you're saying.
You're saying that you think he misspoke.
He didn't say it properly.
And he went back to clarify.
No, because we talk about these subjects all the time.
And I want to play what Dr. Carson said on Armstrong
Williams's radio show.
Listen.
BEN CARSON: I think people need to actually
look up the word immigrant.
Whether you're voluntary or involuntary,
if you come from outside to the inside, you're an immigrant.
Whether you're legal or you're illegal,
you come from the outside to inside--
you're an immigrant.
Slaves came here as involuntary immigrants.
But they still had the strength to hold on.
DON LEMON: OK.
So an immigrant is a person who comes
to another country to live voluntarily
for a long time-- who comes.
And then he, as Shermichael said,
he wrote about it on Facebook.
But he never said, I messed up, or, what I intended to say
was--
he just said that immigrants and slaves--
whether the narrative the two share are entirely different
experiences--
and they shouldn't be conflated--
I'm paraphrasing here-- but that's kind of what he did.