Some supporters of the rather bizarre nomination of neurosurgeon Ben Carson to run the Secretary of Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have argued that Carson is uniquely qualified because he grew up in public housing.
The problem with this argument: Ben Carson never lived in public housing.
The Washington Post reports that Carson’s childhood was spent in private homes in Detroit and Boston. Money was often tight, with Carson’s family having to live with his aunt and uncle at one point, as well as having to live in what Carson describes as “a multifamily dwelling.” But while Carson’s rags-to-riches story is undeniably impressive, the fact remains that there is still nothing in his history to suggest that he has any kind of familiarity with the ins and outs of public housing.
In a bizarre twist, one of the sources of this misperception seems to have come from information given to the New York Times by one of Carson’s own advisers, Armstrong Williams. Williams has since admitted that Carson has no relation to public housing in a tweet that seems to suggest that because “he grew up around many who utilized housing programs,” that this qualifies Carson for the job.
He also suggested that Carson was capable of running ANY American agency, whether he has experience in them or not.
“As brilliant as folks have said that Dr. Carson is from a neurosurgery standpoint, creating fair housing, promoting economic development and having people living in prospering communities is a little different than operating on somebody’s brain,” said former Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter. “I do not know how that translates into being HUD secretary.’’
Carson has previously referred to the Obama administration’s efforts to punish housing projects with discriminatory policies as “failed socialism” and believes that “poverty is really more of a choice than anything else.” The HUD secretary will be his first government job, operating at a budget of $45 billion with a staff of 9,000.
Nathan Wellman is a Los Angeles-based journalist, author, and playwright. Follow him on Twitter: @LightningWOW
