The controversy surrounding Dr. Ben Carson illustrates a national crisis that has been ignored – and tolerated – for far too long.

Carson, a renowned neurosurgeon, burst onto the national scene with his resounding National Prayer Breakfast address in February. His conservative views have made him the Right’s newest star. The inconvenient fact that he is an African-American conservative does not sit well with the Left, however, which has hammered away at Carson since Day One with a variety of methods ranging from dismissing him, ridiculing him, attempting to drive a wedge between Carson and conservatives, and (most recently) a full-on attack over Carson’s gay-marriage remarks last week (a matter that should not have provoked a controversy, as I wrote on this site).

On his show Monday night, during a heated segment regarding Dr. Carson, Sean Hannity noted:

“[I]f you’re African-American and you’re conservative, you are vilified. You are demonized, you are called names, you are attacked. That is the ongoing epidemic that goes on. There’s no freedom of speech for African-American conservatives in America.”

Does Hannity have a point? In short, yes.

First, consider what was demonstrated in that very segment. Radio-host Leo Turell, not a fan of Dr. Carson’s, bizarrely railed that Dr. Carson’s profession disqualifies him from speaking on political issues, stating: “Ben Carson, you’re a doctor, you’re not a politician!…. I know what I’m talking about, I’m a lawyer!…. I’ve got the credentials!”

Huh? Ask yourself: Is that an argument often employed? And is there an underlying tone that this African-American doctor should keep quiet and know his place?

Second, as guest Niger Innis (National Spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality) rightly noted, there is a “litany of horrors” spoken by the Left that are not dissected with the same level of outrage as are Dr. Carson’s. Curiously, many of those remarks instead are praised as thought-provoking, go unnoticed, ignored, or dismissed with a shrug and a free pass.

As the Left has consistently demonstrated throughout the years, racial-politics trump all. The fact that Carson is a stunning role model for the country, and for African-Americans in particular, is brushed under the rug as irrelevant, in favor of discrediting this black conservative. Dating back to Justice Clarence Thomas’s confirmation or even further, there is a special level of vitriol reserved for black conservatives, who dared break rank. According to general liberal orthodoxy, blacks do and must believe that racism is rampant, that minorities cannot get ahead without special help, and that Big Government solutions are the road to blacks’ prosperity.

Those who combat this narrative are not suffered gladly.

Try being a black conservative who does not support Obama. Inconceivable! Try being a Latino who does not rush to support amnesty for illegal immigrants. Inconceivable! Try being any minority who does not rush to see issues through the prism of race or ethnicity. Inconceivable! And try being a minority who dares be a conservative? Brace yourself. It is not only a matter of how few will give you a voice or listen but rather the many who will try to silence you.

As a conservative Latina, I directly experience, often on a daily basis, the difficulty of being a minority who did not and does not ‘toe the line.’ Due to my political views, I have been called a sellout, a traitor, heartless, ashamed of my ethnicity, and even a ‘wetback’ (no, the Left is not above using racial slurs). Many are the moments in which I consider it would be best to keep quiet. I suspect this struggle is even tougher for black conservatives – a sitting target for the Left, theirs is no enviable position.

‘Freedom of speech for me but not for thee, black conservatives!’… or so the Left shouts with its actions. Sorry, Dr. Carson, but if you wish to make your views heard, it seems you must check either your skin color or your political philosophy at the door. The Left loves diversity – just not your kind.

Watch the segment below, via Fox:

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