On Thursday evening, September 11th, Dr. Benjamin S. Carson delivered a keynote presentation based on his book America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made this Nation Great. Previous to the renowned pediatric neurosurgeon’s speech, several VSU students and faculty members aligned the Fine Arts building to protest the doctor’s appearance.
Students stood at the corner of North Oak Street and East Brookwood Drive carrying signs that read, “Carson is Anti Woman Empowerment”, “Gay Rights are Human Rights”, “VSU Promotes Social Darwinism”, and other statements that caught the attention of several people driving past the area.
“He’s not a good person to bring to campus,” says Courtney McGill, 22-year-old VSU student and Sociology major. After doing some research on the esteemed doctor, McGill found a few of his publicly made comments to be wrong and completely out of line. One of his remarks was in regards to homosexuality.
During an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity in 2013, Dr. Carson compared homosexuality to bestiality and pedophilia while arguing that marriage can only represent a relationship between heterosexual couples. His comments regarding the homosexual community quickly prompted outrage in the students at Johns Hopkins Medical School, where he was to give a keynote speech to the graduating class of 2013.
He later withdrew from participating as a commencement speaker after hearing about the students’ complaints. Dr. Carson publicly apologized to all of those offended, while stating that his statements were taken of context. Tell us what you think:
“Marriage is between a man and a woman, it’s a well-established fundamental pillar of society,” Carson told Hannity. “And no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality, it doesn’t matter what they are. They don’t get to change the definition, so it’s not something that’s against gays, it’s against anybody who wants to come along and change the fundamental definitions of pillars of society–it has significant ramifications.” – Via ABC News Blogger Chris Good’s Ben Carson Apologizes for Homosexuality
Among other remarks made in regards to minority groups, Dr. Carson has also shared his opinion about abortion. Earlier this year during an interview on DoveTV, Dr. Carson stated, “It’s interesting that we sit around and call other ancient civilizations ‘heathen’ because of human sacrifice, but aren’t we actually guilty of the same thing?” At first glance you may not think that Carson means any harm by stating that abortion is equivalent to human sacrifice; however, many pro-life advocates may feel heated by the rhetorical question.
While Dr. Carson is also noted as the first surgeon to successfully separate twins conjoined at the head, it seems as though his political commentary has become just as notable as his success in the medical world.
With the kind of negative attention he has been attracting, it is no wonder some of our students felt inclined to protest his appearance. In a short message to the school officials who organized this event starring Dr. Carson, McGill states, “Hopefully they [will] listen and be more careful. Maybe they’ll be more neutral next time, hopefully.”