Ben Carson defends Terry Crews' Black Lives Matter critique: 'We are putting everything in context of color'
HUD secretary says 'Marxist-driven' movement promoting 'things that are antithetical to the American model'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson came to the defense of "America's Got Talent" host Terry Crews on "The Story" Wednesday as Crews faced backlash for tweeting that "we must ensure #blacklivesmatter doesn’t morph into #blacklivesbetter.”
Carson told host Martha MacCallum that Crews' statement reminded him of famous remarks by civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
AGT HOST TERRY CREWS UNDER FIRE FOR 'BLACK LIVES BETTER' TWEET
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"What did he advocate for? A color-blind society," Carson said of King. "He said 'I dream of a time when people will be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.'"
"Here," Carson added, "we are putting everything in context of color, of skin, of external characteristics."
Crews, 51, immediately came under fire Tuesday for tweeting, “If you are a child of God, you are my brother and sister. I have family of every race, creed and ideology. We must ensure #blacklivesmatter doesn’t morph into #blacklivesbetter.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}His post didn’t sit well with many Black Lives Matter supporters who voiced their disappointment in the “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star and claimed that the movement's premise was not to exalt the lives of black people over those of other races, but to call for fair and equal treatment for people of all races.
Carson told MacCallum that while "everybody would agree" that black lives matter, the movement has morphed into a "Marxist-driven organization" that "espouses things like taking down the model of Western family structure," and advocates for the dismantling of police departments across the country.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"These are things that are antithetical to the American model and to patriotism in this country," Carson explained.
"When I open up somebody's head and I'm operating on their brain, there is nothing in there that says this is a black person or a white person or a yellow person or a brown person," the former neurosurgeon explained.
"That is the thing that actually makes you who you are. As we divide ourselves, we allow ourselves to be divided, we are destroying the very fabric of our nation," he concluded. "This is called the United States of America and this is what we need to think about."
Fox News' Julius Young contributed to this report.