DN letters: Ben Carson's gaffe on slavery shows he's unqualified to lead HUD

DR. BEN CARSON must have been asleep when they taught about slaves coming to America. Slaves were brought here in the hulls of ships, packed liked sardines with such cruel conditions that it was inhumane.

Once here, the people of African descent were placed in cages like animals. They were taken to auction blocks and poked and prodded before being sold to the highest bidder. Our people were stripped of their culture and heritage and separated from their families and made to work for free for 200-plus years in building the United States.

If a man who owned these people as property decided to sell them from their families, it was OK, because people of African descent were considered chattel.

Ben Carson is not qualified to be secretary of Housing and Urban Development. People of African descent did not come here by the way of Ellis Island, as immigrants were.

People of African descent were brought here by force and did not come here by choice. People of African descent were not part of the dream for a better life for them and their families, but rather as workers getting no pay.

So, Dr. Carson, go back to history class and get your facts straight. Remember, slaves were not immigrants, but forced labor for free.

Lora Neal

Philadelphia

Oh, so, President Trump's speech to Congress marks a shift in tone, a "reset" ("Trump Hits Reset Button," Mar 2).

I recall candidate Trump's trip to Mexico last September, when he met the president of Mexico and spoke in diplomatic tones, talking of bilateral collaboration in dealing with illegal immigration. Later that very same evening, he spoke in Phoenix, returning to his fiery anti-immigrant rhetoric about mass deportation and making Mexico pay for a border wall.

Oh, so, in his speech to Congress, Trump spoke of working with both political parties to solve problems. Does he mean that, or was this just another Trump photo op like his September trip to Mexico?

Let's wait a few days or weeks to see whether there really was a shift in his tone and, more importantly, his actions.

Lennie Perlman

Philadelphia

Shutting down every drug corner in Kensington isn't going to happen, plain and simple. There's too much corruption and too much money being made in the drug trade. Not only in Philadelphia, but in every metropolitan city in America.

Rob Boyden

Drexel Hill, Pa.