Presumed Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson is pinpointing hip-hop music as the cause for the deterioration of the nation's black communities.

Calling for a return to faith-based values during an interview on a New York-based channel that describes itself as 'America’s most recognizable black radio station,' the Tea Party icon, who is himself black, claimed African-Americans had embraced an 'aspect of modern society that pretty much dismisses anything that has to do with Jesus Christ.'

And that is the 'hip-hop community,' he told a WBLS host, according to Business Insider.

Talking about the plight of African-Americans Carson said, 'We need to reestablish 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.'

'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 continued.

The remarks reportedly raised red flags with both a listener, who said hip-hop has largely been a boon for blacks, and the program's host.

'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 fifties." '

'That's what they used to say.'

It was at that point that Carson claimed he was generally referring to the 'hip hop community' as any aspect of secular society that ignores Christianity.

The long-shot presidential contender is currently on a campaign swing through New Hampshire, where he today blamed the abundance of Americans in jail, in part, on ease with which they are able to apply for and obtain welfare.

'In 36 states it is actually easier for a person to cultivate all the various entitlement programs than to live on a minimum-wage job, so in a way you can't blame them,' he said at Manchester event according to New Hampshire Public Radio.

'What do we have for it, more people on food stamps, more people in poverty, more broken families, more incarcerations -- everything that was supposed to be better is much worse,' he reportedly said.

The staunchly conservative, retired neurosurgery is mulling a bid for the presidency and has said he will make a decision by next month.

He has already formed a presidential exploratory committee for that purpose, however, and it announced today, according the Washington Times, that it raised $2 million from 36,000 supporters in less than a month.

The amount is much lower than the hauls of his other potential competitors, however, such as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who has asked members of his political action committee's national executive board to give or raise $500,000 by the middle of this month.

The total amount of money his PAC has raised is unknown, as it does not have to report that information as Bush is not technically a candidate for any office yet, but he's known to have set a goal to raise $100,000 for his eventual campaign in the first quarter of this year.

And Texas Senator Ted Cruz had already raked in more than $4 million from grassroots supporters just a little over a week after he formally announced his entry into the race last month.

Source: Daily Mail

Date Posted: Friday, April 10th, 2015 , Total Page Views: 1818