Dr. Benjamin Carson's long fall from grace.

Uncle Ben?

Dr. Benjamin Carson's story from poverty, single parent home (his mother was illiterate) and juvenile delinquency to becoming a world renown Johns Hopkins pediatric neuro-surgeon is a remarkable story. 

In fact, as an elementary school teacher, I used his story -- Gifted Hands -- to motivate my students. And, to be absolutely upfront, despite Dr. Carson's recent controversies, I would still steer my students to his story.

But I would abruptly stop using him (as a prominent role model) right after his rags to riches tale.

Why?

A la Clarence Thomas and Herman (9 9 9) Cain types, Dr. Carson, after reaching the mountain top of success, began embracing the same political/social forces that have been instrumental in creating, maintaining and promoting social, economic and education inequality.

To be clear: We are not talking about the black conservative message of not being a victim, work hard, stay in school, accept personal accountability, say not to drugs etc. Black conservatives do not have a lock on those ethos...

We are talking about when black conservatives rush to the podium in an endeavor to out red neck neo-confederate red necks.

Case below:

Dr. Ben Carson, a rising star in conservative circles, on Friday compared President Obama's health-care law to slavery.

"You know Obamacare is really I think the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery," Carson, who is African American, said Friday in remarks at the Values Voter Summit in Washington. "And it is in a way, it is slavery in a way, because it is making all of us subservient to the government, and it was never about health care. It was about control."  source

Two things:

1. Dr. Ben knows he is saying something that mainstream white conservatives want to say but will not say because they would be called racist. Now, as a so-called black man, he can open the can of worms for his conservative friends.
2. Uncle Ben also knows -- getting close to medicine retirement -- that such views can land him more book deals and a post-medicine career: Surprise, surprise, Fox News has hired Dr. Ben.

And for icing-on-the-cake, Uncle Ben threw in this one gratis (free):

"I mean, [our society is] very much like Nazi Germany," Carson told Breitbart News, after declaring that we were living in a "Gestapo age." "And I know you're not supposed to say 'Nazi Germany,' but I don't care about political correctness. You know, you had a government using its tools to intimidate the population. We now live in a society where people are afraid to say what they actually believe."  source

Mission Accomplished!