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Ben Carson visits Ferguson in bid to woo black voters to Republican party
Source: The Guardian
Ben Carson visits Ferguson in bid to woo black voters to Republican party
Ed Pilkington
Friday 11 September 2015 21.30 BST
Ben Carson has a mission. The world-renowned neurosurgeon who has shot unexpectedly into second place in the race to become the Republican candidate for the White House, is trying to woo back to his party a group of voters that for years has been thoroughly alienated from it – African Americans.
On Friday that mission took Carson to Ferguson, Missouri, the two-thirds majority black suburb of St Louis that became the crucible of the Black Lives Matter movement following the police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in August 2014.
His “driving tour” of the town made for an unlikely choice of campaign setting – Carson has dismissed the Ferguson unrest as the work of a few “cruel-hearted outsiders”, accused Black Lives Matter of “creating strife” and insisted that Brown’s death had nothing to do with race.
In a press conference held soon after his tour of the town, Carson said that he would be happy to meet the leaders of Black Lives Matter. But he said he had a “beef” with the movement.
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Ed Pilkington
Friday 11 September 2015 21.30 BST
Ben Carson has a mission. The world-renowned neurosurgeon who has shot unexpectedly into second place in the race to become the Republican candidate for the White House, is trying to woo back to his party a group of voters that for years has been thoroughly alienated from it – African Americans.
On Friday that mission took Carson to Ferguson, Missouri, the two-thirds majority black suburb of St Louis that became the crucible of the Black Lives Matter movement following the police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in August 2014.
His “driving tour” of the town made for an unlikely choice of campaign setting – Carson has dismissed the Ferguson unrest as the work of a few “cruel-hearted outsiders”, accused Black Lives Matter of “creating strife” and insisted that Brown’s death had nothing to do with race.
In a press conference held soon after his tour of the town, Carson said that he would be happy to meet the leaders of Black Lives Matter. But he said he had a “beef” with the movement.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/11/ben-carson-ferguson-tour-win-over-black-voters