Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson speaks to the press after speaking at the Commonwealth Club at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco, California, September 8, 2015. REUTERS/Stephen Lam - RTX1RPSM
attribution: REUTERS
Many a true word is spoken in jest
On Wednesday, Sept. 30, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson reflected on his youth. Remembering when he and his friends would be chased by police for mischief, he said, "That was back in the day before they would shoot you."
 
There was laughter from the almost exclusively white crowd. Carson, perhaps sensing that he went too far, then immediately backed off of the statement and said, "I'm just kidding, you know they wouldn't do that."
 
Except that is exactly what police do nowadays. They shoot and kill young black men and women in instances where lethal force was absolutely preposterous.
 
Rekia Boyd, Tamir Rice, Kendrec McDade, and hundreds of other completely unarmed African Americans have been shot and killed by American police in the years since they playfully chased Ben Carson and his buddies.
 
In fact, you should hear Ben Carson tell his story below. It only takes about a minute, and pretty much illustrates exactly how things have changed—including Carson's unwillingness to let the whole truth be told without reservation.
Editor's note: the video the author mentions seems to have been taken down. I found it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oixsh5ctQvg