Ben Carson Claims That There Is No Systemic Racism

Do you think systemic racism is a problem in law enforcement agencies in the United States?

CARSON: Let’s say this.

I grew up at a time when there was real systemic racism. I remember, as an eighth grade student, I was the only black student. I got the highest academic achievement. And the teacher got up and berated the other students they weren’t trying hard enough because a black kid was number one.

And that kind of thing was not uncommon when I was growing up. That kind of thing is very uncommon now.

Are there still racists around? Absolutely. There were yesterday, there are today, and there will be tomorrow. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t fight it.

And this is an opportune time. Right now, people are concentrating on this. We can’t let this moment slip away. We need to deal with some of the issues in the police departments, but it’s — it’s — this is an easy time to do it.

We have policemen who are rogue. The vast majority of policemen are wonderful. But you have some who are rogue. And they can go from one jurisdiction to another jurisdiction, and nobody does anything about it.

They can be wearing body cameras. There are things that can b. Done, but we need to come to mutual solutions about this. And now is the time to do it. Everybody is concentrating on it. Let’s not let this moment slip away.