Parts of hip-hop culture undermine Christian principles and are hurting the black community, retired neurosurgeon and likely Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson told New York R&B station
WBLS.
"We need to re-establish faith in our communities and the values and principles that got us through slavery, that got us through Jim Crow, and segregation and all kinds of horrible things that were heaped upon us," Carson said during an Easter Sunday interview.
"Why were we able to get through those? Because of our faith, because of our family, because of our values. And as we allow the hip-hop community to destroy those things for us, and as we grasp onto what's politically correct and not what is correct, we continue to deteriorate," he said.
Business Insider reported that a caller to the station told Carson that hip-hop had actually been a positive force in the black community, and the host was quick to agree with the caller.
"When you said 'hip-hop,' my antennae went up very quickly, because I said, 'Wait a minute, that sounds like an old argument that they used to make about rock 'n' roll/R&B back in the '50s," the host said.
Carson responded that he was talking about specific elements of hip-hop and not the hip-hop community as a whole.
"When I talk about the hip-hop community, I'm talking about the aspect of modern society that pretty much dismisses anything that has to do with Jesus Christ, that's what I'm talking about," Carson said.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.