Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

Entering grade eight at predominantly Black Hunter Junior High, Carson is the victim of capping, in which each person tries to “make the most sarcastic remark possible, throwing in a quick barb to keep it humorous” (46). Carson suffers from capping about his clothes, and despite his mother’s view that “what’s inside counts the most” and the family’s financial straits, Carson longs to have clothes that will allow him to join a clique in which appearance is critical (48). Feeling ostracized, Carson begins to cap, making “mean” remarks and quickly forgetting how it felt to be on the receiving end of capping (49). By tenth grade, he caves to peer pressure, continually pressuring his mother to get him the “right kind” of cloths, including “Italian knit shirts with suede fronts, silk pants, thick-and-thin silk socks, alligator shoes, stingy brim hats, leather jackets, and suede coats,” despite being aware of her disappointment in him (51). Carson’s need for acceptance by the in-crowd comes to be a higher priority than his schoolwork, leading him to stay out late and—when his mother gives in and gets him some of clothes he wants—partying and hanging out at the expense of his grades, which drop to Cs.

In retrospect, Carson comments that he had “strayed from the important basic values of [his] life,” and to explain this, he tells the story of how a woman named Mary Thomas brought Sonya Carson into the Seventh-day Adventist Church (52). They first met on one of the occasions when Mrs. Carson had checked herself into a mental hospital, at which time, Mary talked about her own beliefs without pressuring Mrs. Carson, although Sonya was not very interested. But the contrast Mary provided to the people who gossiped about the Carsons’ divorce and her belief in a source of strength outside oneself, led Sonya to listen. Sonya learned to read in order to read the Bible. Supported by the Adventist faith of her sister Jean’s family with whom they stayed in Boston, Sonya became an active member of the Adventist church, and took her sons. When they moved back to Michigan, they continued to attend Adventist churches, and at age twelve, Carson was rebaptized, explaining to his pastor that he hadn’t fully understood the significance of his commitment when he was eight.

Carson recounts four instances of his “terrible temper.” In the first one, a verbal argument with a classmate by the school lockers turns into assault when the classmate shoves Carson, who hits him in the forehead with the combination lock, causing a three-inch gash. Carson tells the principal that “it was almost an accident,” apologizes to his classmate, and the incident is considered settled (56). In the second, he argues with his mother over a pair of new pants she purchased for him, which Carson judges to be the “wrong kind” and flings back at her (56). Mrs. Carson reminds her son that “we don’t always get what we want out of life,” and fortunately, when he prepares to punch her, Curtis prevents him (56). In the third incident, Carson is hit by a rock without being hurt, but in response, grabs a large rock and hurls it at the aggressor’s face, breaking his glasses and his nose. Finally, in the last incident, Carson and his friend Bob are arguing over which station to listen to on Bob’s transistor radio, when Carson pulls a camping knife out of his back pocket and tries to stick it in his friend’s gut. The blade hits Bob’s ROTC belt buckle and snaps. Carson realizes that he “had almost killed” his friend, mutters that he is sorry, drops the handle, and runs home. Hiding out in the bathroom, he questions his sanity, considers that without Bob’s belt buckle, he would “be on my way to jail or reform school,” and reflects on his awareness from his reading of Psychology Today that temper is a personality trait, and these traits are, at the time, thought to be difficult, if not impossible, to modify (59). He speaks to God, saying, “You have to take this temper from me. If You don’t, I’ll never be free from it” and “something happened to” him, freeing him from his “terrible temper” (59, 60). This experience deepens his faith, making it “intensely personal.” He begins to focus on his future (61).

Carson explains the development of his ideas about working at Johns Hopkins University Hospital and what specialty he might focus on. Ben’s burgeoning interest in psychiatry is supported by his brother, Curtis, who gives him a subscription to Psychology Today when Ben turns thirteen. Curtis provides a role model for Ben, who imitates Curtis by joining his high school ROTC program in the second semester of tenth grade. While continuing to be mentored by his mother, he also gains a new role model, Sharper, who has attained the highest rank possible for an ROTC student—full colonel—which Carson decides to try to match. He is also guided during this period by his English teacher, his biology teacher, and his band teacher.

Carson progresses quickly through the ranks at ROTC, proving to be a good leader, and using his capping skills to pull a group of underperforming students into line, even though he admits that it “didn’t employ the best psychology” (67). Carson achieves the highest score of any student to date on the field-grade exam. Another exam brings him the title of “city executive officer over all the schools” and the offer of a full scholarship to West Point, which he declines because the obligations for military service would make it impossible for him to attend medical school right out of college (29). But the offer goes to his head: “Unfortunately, I . . . started to believe that I was one of the most spectacular and smartest people in the world” (69–70).

Carson discusses his secret to scoring well on the SAT—choosing College Bowl as one of his three weekly television programs when his mother set the limitations, which led him to realize that he needed more education in the arts to meet his goal of competing on the show. He begins with painting, progressing to classical music (he had taken clarinet lessons since seventh grade in imitation of Curtis, before switching to cornet and baritone), and ending with the ability to “listen to just about any piece of music—from classical to pop—and . . . know who wrote it” (72). He widened his musical tastes further in college.