Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson sparked outrage Monday, when he described enslaved Africans as “immigrants.”

Dr. Ben Carson: “That’s what America is about, a land of dreams and opportunity. There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less. But they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandsons, great-granddaughters might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.”

Carson’s comments drew widespread criticism. The NAACP tweeted out simply, “Immigrants???” Award-winning director Ava DuVernay tweeted, “Their dream? Not be kidnapped, tortured, raped, forced to mate, work for another’s gain, torn from family + culture.”