Despite His Past, Carson May Become America’s ‘Dismantler-in-Chief’

CORNELL UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICEDec. 5, 2016 Despite his past, Carson may become America’s ‘dismantler-in-chief’

Noliwe Rooks, associate professor in the Department of Africana Studies studies race-based inequality, economics and education. Rooks comments on President-elect Trump’s pick for secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Biography: http://africana.cornell.edu/noliwe-rooks

Rooks says:

“Ben Carson grew up in public housing, arguably his only qualification for his new cabinet post. Should he decide to toe Trump’s line in regards to urban America, his legacy may be as its ‘dismantler-in-chief.’

“Carson’s policy platform in relation to housing, economic development and poverty in financially strapped urban areas is still largely unknown. However, we do know that the president-elect has said that he plans to offer tax incentives to recruit developers and foreign governments to develop in urban areas as a means of revitalizing them.

“It is in fact his only plan. Historically such strategies do far more to aid the bottom lines of wealthy developers than they do the struggling communities who are ultimately displaced. We know poor people do not benefit when developers ‘discover’ their neighborhoods.”

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