Sec. Ben Carson Believes Donald Trump Will Address The Nation On Racism In America
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson seems to believe that Donald Trump will be taking to the airwaves soon to deliver a message to the country which focuses on race and unity.
Carson told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, June 7, "I believe you're going to be hearing from the President this week on this topic in some detail. And I would ask you maybe to reserve judgment until after that time.”
The country has been in a state of unrest for the past three weeks with multiple cities across the nation experiencing peaceful protests and violent clashes with police. The demonstrations are meant to put pressure on lawmakers asking for state and federal mandates that will change the way policing is enacted as well as other equality and equity related reforms.
The President has yet to engage the country in a dialogue that would ease the tensions brought about after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.
Instead, Trump’s decision to use federal officers to push protestors out of Lafayette Park last week in order to get in a photo-op of himself while holding the Bible in front of St. John’s Church left little hope that he had any plans to address the nation on these issues at all.
Even so, Carson believes that the President will set aside some time this week to address Floyd’s killing, the daily protests in response to it, law enforcement’s reaction to the protests and what the federal government will do in response.
Nearly every time Trump has spoken about the uprising, he has only stirred the pot causing even more chaos. His inflammatory “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” tweet harkened back to a time when former Miami Police Chief Walter E. Headley first quoted it about the force used to patrol Black neighborhoods in the 1960s.
Then Trump use of the words, “thugs” when referring to protestors in Minneapolis, and not to mention the President’s own well-documented racially insensitive past, could lead many to believe that whatever is to come will do more harm than good.
Nonetheless, aides in the White House are said to be counseling the President that this is the right time to speak up.
BET has been covering every angle of George Floyd’s death in police custody, other social justice cases and the subsequent aftermath and protests. For our continuing coverage, click here.
