Benjamin Carson Interview (page: 4 / 9) Pediatric Neurosurgeon	Print Interview

Even after you graduated from high school and went on to Yale, there were certainly obstacles you had to overcome. There must have been times when you were discouraged. What role did persistence play in your career?

Benjamin Carson: When I was in college, I used to come home to Detroit for the summer. This was when Detroit was going through a lot of turmoil, because the Japanese were ascending in terms of their automobile production, and Detroit was going down, so there were never any summer jobs.

They would have all these stories on about how there would be no summer jobs, and there would be riots in the streets because the kids wouldn't have anything to do. A lot of kids just gave up and they said, "There's not going to be any jobs." But, I would just get on the bus and ride out somewhere and get off, and if I saw a business establishment I'd go knock on the door and say, "I'm a summer student, I need a job." And, I usually got one.
[ Video ] Low High    [ Audio ] Quicktime	[ Key to Success ] Perseverance

But, one time I couldn't get a job, even that way, it was so bad. And, my creativity, I guess, went into another gear, and I decided to go to the Young and Rubicam Company. When I was applying to college, I had done my regional interview there, and I knew that the Executive Vice President would remember me, 'cause he had done my interview. So, I went up to the penthouse suite, waited 'til his secretary turned her back, and darted into his office. And he said, "Benjamin, how are you? How are things at Yale?" And, I said that "Things are wonderful, but I can't find a job this summer." And he said, "Did you try our personnel office?" I said no. Actually I had tried it. And, he said, "I'll tell you what." He picked up the telephone, and he called the personnel director. He says, "I know we're not hiring this summer, but I have a young man here, and I'm going to send him down. I want you to give him a job."
[ Video ] Low High    [ Audio ] Quicktime	[ Key to Success ] Perseverance

So, having gone to that next gear, rather than sort of giving up, provided me with a very excellent job that summer too. That happens to me a lot. It happens all the time in medicine. I'll try one thing, it doesn't work, and I'll look and see what other people did. I'll read about what they did, and then I'll say, "Hmm. There must be a better way to do this."

Race is a very important element of American history and contemporary society as well. Would you say that race is something that you have had to overcome, or is it something that has ultimately worked in your favor?

Benjamin Carson: I would put it this way; it's something that I haven't invested a great deal of energy in.

My mother used to say, "If you walk into an auditorium full of racist, bigoted people," she said, "you don't have a problem, they have a problem." Because when you walk in, they're all going to cringe and wonder if you're going to sit next to them, whereas you can sit anywhere you want. And, that was a philosophy that I sort of carry through life. You know, if somebody else was having problems with the way I look, that's too bad. You know? I have more important things to do than to invest my energies in their problem.
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Wasn't it hard to come to that determination?

Benjamin Carson: It wasn't difficult for me at all. And it remains not difficult today.

I remember when I was an intern, and anytime I would go onto the wards with my scrubs on, one of the nurses invariably would say, you know, "Mr. Jones isn't quite ready to be taken to the O.R. yet," assuming that I was an orderly. I wouldn't get angry, I would simply say, "Well that's nice, but I'm Dr. Carson. I'm the intern." And, you know, they'd turn about 18 shades of red, but I would be very nice to them and understanding, and I had a friend for life. You know? Rather than blowing up and saying, "How dare you!" You know, all this, because I recognize that the reason they said that was not necessarily because they were racist, but because from their perspective the only black man they had ever seen on that ward with scrubs on was an orderly, so why should they think anything different?
[ Video ] Low    [ Audio ] Quicktime	[ Key to Success ] Integrity

A lot of times people blow things out of proportion that don't need to be blown out of proportion. Not to say that there aren't some people who are clearly racist on both sides, on all sides. There always will be people who are like that, as long as there are people with small minds and the devil to stimulate them. But why should I spend my time worrying about that?

You only have so much time in your life, and you only have so much energy. So you have to select very carefully how you're going to spend that time and how you're going to spend that energy. If you waste it spinning your wheels on things that are not going to change, then it deprives you of an opportunity of utilizing it on things that are going to change.

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