--- title: Ben Carson Called African-American Slaves 'Immigrants' description: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson referred to slaves as "immigrants" in an address to staff canonical: https://time.com/4692812/ben-carson-slaves-immigrants/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-06T22:32:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:19:30.813Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ben Carson Called African-American Slaves 'Immigrants' During a Speech og:description: Drawing immediate backlash og:url: https://time.com/4692812/ben-carson-slaves-immigrants/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bec31aa216c220f/6988bd3cbc6cfca7373e0689/ben-carson-hud-slaves-immigrants.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Then-presidential candidate Ben Carsoning campaigning during the 2016 primary season, og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ben Carson Called African-American Slaves 'Immigrants' During a Speech twitter:description: Drawing immediate backlash twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bec31aa216c220f/6988bd3cbc6cfca7373e0689/ben-carson-hud-slaves-immigrants.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ben Carson Called African-American Slaves 'Immigrants' During a Speech > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=423413e2-f258-4e34-bf51-6197d9761f6a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Ben Carson Called African-American Slaves "Immigrants" [Watch (HLS stream): Ben Carson Called African-American Slaves "Immigrants"](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/S9bnV4Hh.m3u8) (1:24)  _Published 2017-03-06. New Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson is facing backlash after referring to African-American slaves as immigrants in his first address to the agency's staff._  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Mar 6, 2017 10:32 PM UTC New Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson is facing backlash after referring to African-American slaves as immigrants in his first address to the agency's staff.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Mar 6, 2017 10:32 PM UTC [New Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson](http://time.com/4531329/ben-carson-donald-trump-accusers-lying/) is facing backlash after referring to African-American slaves as [immigrants](http://time.com/4679987/donald-trump-immigrants-deportation/) in his first address to the agency’s staff. “There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less,” Carson said during his remarks, according to the [Washington](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/06/carson-compares-slaves-to-immigrants-coming-to-a-land-of-dreams-and-opportunity/?utm%5Fterm=.75157e55964c)[ _Post._ ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/06/carson-compares-slaves-to-immigrants-coming-to-a-land-of-dreams-and-opportunity/?utm%5Fterm=.75157e55964c)_“_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.” Carson immediately drew condemnation on social media from several prominent figures and organizations, including the NAACP. > [](https://twitter.com/NAACP/status/838855410253709314) As of late afternoon, Carson’s name was at the top of Twitter’s trending chart. Carson ran against Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary before dropping out in March 2016\. Shortly after, he endorsed his formal rival, and became a campaign surrogate. ## Transcript Go to Ellis Island one of these days if you haven't been there and go through that [ UNKNOWN ] on Ellis Island. And look at the pictures of all those people who are hanging out there from every part of the world, many of them carrying all their earthy belongings in their two hands not knowing What this country held for them. Look at the determination in their eyes. People who worked not five days a week but six or seven days a week. Not eight hours a day but ten, twelve, sixteen 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 granddaughters that they might have an opportunity in this land. That's what America is about. A land of dreams and opportunity. There were other immigrants who came here on the bottom of slave ships, that worked even harder, even longer for less. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] But they too had a dream, that one day their son's, daughter's, grandson's, granddaughter's, great- grandson's Great granddaughters might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4692812/ben-carson-slaves-immigrants/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4692812/ben-carson-slaves-immigrants/"},"headline":"Ben Carson Called African-American Slaves 'Immigrants' During a Speech","datePublished":"2017-03-06T22:32:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-07T07:19:30.813Z","description":"Drawing immediate backlash","url":"https://time.com/4692812/ben-carson-slaves-immigrants/","keywords":["Race","White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bec31aa216c220f/6988bd3cbc6cfca7373e0689/ben-carson-hud-slaves-immigrants.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bec31aa216c220f/6988bd3cbc6cfca7373e0689/ben-carson-hud-slaves-immigrants.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Then-presidential candidate Ben Carsoning campaigning during the 2016 primary season,","caption":"Then-presidential candidate Ben Carsoning campaigning during the 2016 primary season,","creditText":"Justin Sullivan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/race/","name":"Race"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4692812/ben-carson-slaves-immigrants/","name":"Ben Carson Called African-American Slaves 'Immigrants' During a Speech"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Ben Carson Called African-American Slaves \"Immigrants\"","description":"New Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson is facing backlash after referring to African-American slaves as immigrants in his first address to the agency's staff.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/S9bnV4Hh/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-03-06T23:17:31.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/S9bnV4Hh.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4692812/ben-carson-slaves-immigrants/","duration":"PT1M24S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4692812/ben-carson-slaves-immigrants/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```