People Are Not Happy With Ben Carson's Comments About Slaves Being Immigrants

Ben Carson, newly appointed secretary of Housing and Urban Development, is the latest member of the Trump administration to grossly misinterpret a word's definition. During an address to the department on March 6, Carson seemingly described slaves who were forcibly brought to America as "immigrants."

"That's what America is about, a land of dreams and opportunity," Carson said. "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."

Immigration is a willful act of leaving one's country, usually in hopes of more opportunity in another. Slavery is not a choice — which makes it troubling when an American official equates the two. Carson, as Twitter users were quick to point out, seemed to be romanticizing slavery in a way that suggested slaves were somehow privileged to come to America even if it was only for the sake of their descendants.

Ahead, take a look at how some social media users (and Samuel L. Jackson) reacted to Carson's comments.