ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson says he supports the idea of a national holiday marking "Juneteenth."
To mark the occasion, he visited a historic African American church in a formerly segregated neighborhood in Tampa.
While there, he spoke to our Holly Gregory about the racial divide in America and President Trump's re-election campaign.
Part of the reason Carson came to Tampa was to visit the century-old African American church, which will become a museum. He says race relations have improved tremendously in his lifetime and thinks people just aren’t talking about things that are positive.
"I hope we will begin to tell a lot of the positive stories, so that everybody doesn’t think that we’re sinking and that we’re about to drown, because we’re not," Carson said. "It’s just that nobody wants to tell those stories."
Carson, the only African American member of President Trump's Cabinet, went on to acknowledge that the President has often struggled to connect with Black voters.
"I think he’s making progress with his speech. Let’s just put it that way," he said. "Even though he cares deeply about the racial issue, he does not want to been as pandering and we just have to understand that."
To see Holly's full interview with Carson, watch the video above.