Ben Carson was born into poverty, yet he was able to overcome numerous obstacles, becoming a world-renowned brain surgeon. Carson also served in a cabinet-level position in the Trump White House, but despite these achievements, he’s still considered a pariah. A Detroit school board has voted to change the name of a high school named after the totally hateful racist known as Dr. Ben Carson.

Not The Bee said, “This is the definition of a success story for black Americans. But because he’s conservative, he must be erased.”

Carson graduated from Detroit’s Southwest High School in 1969, but this year, the district is asking the school board to change the name from Ben Carson High School of Science and Medicine to Crockett Midtown High School of Science and Medicine. The push to change the name came as its namesake after Carson worked as the housing secretary in the Trump administration. Apparently, a large number of students, alums, staff, parents and the community favor the change.

The Detroit News Reported:

Under the measure, the board can opt to change a school’s name to honor “individuals who have made a significant contribution to the enhancement of education,” according to the district. The board also can select another name under circumstances that include when a building is newly built or redesigned, where the name no longer reflects the current student population or “the community of the geographic area where the school is located requests a name change that more closely aligns with the history of the locality, or information newly discovered about the current name of the school is negative in nature.”

Citing those guidelines, the recommendation Tuesday involved four buildings — the Carson Site, Harms Elementary School, Frederick Douglass Academy for Young Men, and Detroit School of the Arts — as well as three new programs, including one at Marygrove, the Latin School or Catherine Ferguson Academy for Young Women.

Board member LaMar Lemmons had pushed to rename Carson school, which is named after the Housing and Urban Development secretary and former Republican presidential candidate who graduated from the district.

Although graduating from the district and becoming a World-renowned physician who pioneered new surgery methods, Carson is not considered an individual who made a significant contribution to the enhancement of education, or perhaps political polarization keeps going too far. Nevertheless, Dr. Carson has a long list of accomplishments and has been awarded for his outstanding career.

Dr. Carson’s prestigious awards include the following:

• the Spingarn Medal presented by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the highest honor of the NAACP.

• the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by President George W. Bush.

• recognition by U.S. News Media Group and Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership as one of “America’s Best Leaders”.

• recognition by the Gallup Organization as one of the 10 Most Admired Men in the World.

• recognition as one of the 89 “Living Legends” of the Library of Congress.

• membership of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and the Horatio Alger Society of Distinguished Americans.

Yet school board member Lamar Lemmons said he was spearheading the school’s name change because “It is synonymous with having Trump’s name on our school in blackface,” he went on to say Carson “is doing Trump’s bidding, and he has adversely affected the African American community in Detroit as well as the nation with his housing policies,” Lemmons continued “And he’s allied himself with a president that says he is a white nationalist and sends dog whistles that even the deaf can hear.” The board voted 5-2 to change the name, regardless of an administrative request to keep Carson’s name.

Ben Carson and his wife, Candy, have contributed tremendously to helping future scholars. The duo set up Carson’s Scholars Fund, a program that has given more than 8.28 million in scholarships to high school students with a high GPA who also engage in community service, with 417 of those scholarships being awarded to students from Michigan. The Carson Scholarship Program aims to cultivate an environment where learners become leaders.

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