Washington
Donald Trump's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, who is himself an African-American, caused a stir by claiming - on his first day in office - that the slaves transferred from Africa were "immigrants" who had "a dream".
"This is America: a land of dreams and opportunities," he said in a speech to his administration staff on the day the Trump administration passed a new immigration ordinance.
As an introduction to his speech, Carson recounted anecdotes from his previous career as a neurosurgeon and praised the immigrants who worked long hours to build a better life for their children.
"There were other migrants who came here in the hold of slave ships, they worked even harder, even harder and for less," Carson added.
And the former neurosurgeon continued: "But they also had a dream that one day their sons, their daughters, their grandchildren, their granddaughters, their great-grandchildren, their great-grandchildren could find wealth and happiness in this land, "he said.
"Immigrants ???", immediately reacted on Twitter the large organization for the protection of the rights of blacks, NAACP.
The comments are "tragic, shocking and unacceptable," said Anne Frank Center USA, which keeps alive the memory of Anne Frank, the young Jew who lost her life during her deportation by the Nazis.
"No, Mr. Carson, slaves did not immigrate to America. "They were brought here violently, against their will, and they lived here without freedom," the center continued.
For the Minister of Housing, the many reactions of anger and condemnation in the American media concern the "most cynical interpretation" of the Minister's words.
"No one sincerely believes that it puts immigration and slavery on the same level," a ministry spokesman said.
This is not the first outrageous statement made by Dr. Ben Carson, a former opponent of Donald Trump in the Republican primary.
In 2013, he claimed that the Obamacare health care reform was "the worst thing that has happened in this country since slavery." "And it is in a way slavery, because it submits us all to the state," he had claimed.
Source: news.in.gr