TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development visited Tampa to tour one of his department’s “opportunity zones” on Juneteenth, the day commemorating the end of slavery in America.

Secretary Ben Carson toured the ENCORE! neighborhood, the former Central Park Village area that has been revitalized by 500 units of mixed-use housing and retail space.

“So often, we hear about bad things,” said Carson. “We don’t hear about the great things that are going on. The public-private partnerships that have occurred here resulting in this tremendous revitalization. This is the way urban renewal should be done.”

Carson made headlines this week for vowing to help President Donald Trump gain a better understanding of issues facing Black Americans. As the only Black person in Trump’s cabinet, his role is getting more visibility at a time when racial justice issues are penetrating every facet of American life.

The president has faced criticism on issues of race in the past.

In the 1970s, Trump and his father were sued by the Department of Justice, which found evidence that Trump was refusing to rent to Black tenants.

In the decades that followed, there were multiple allegations of racism at his casinos, including one where Trump was forced to pay a $200,000 fine when a New Jersey court found him guilty of removing a Black card dealer to appease a guest.

And the president’s political career was launched on the racist “birther” conspiracy that President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S.

Secretary Carson also made headlines this week when he said he will “work with” President Trump to help him understand that professional athletes who kneel are not protesting the flag nor the anthem.

8 On Your Side asked him how that process was going.

“I think we’re making progress – across the nation,” Carson said. “I hope people will recognize we do need to pay attention to the way law enforcement is carried out across the nation and in different communities. Tampa actually has been a model because of the community policing.”

He also defended his boss’s record on race issues, listing several of his accomplishments since becoming president.

“As president, he brought the HBCU [Historically Black Colleges & Universities] office into the White House so it could get the appropriate attention,” Carson said. “They’re getting more than twice as much money as before – and a constant stream of money, instead of coming every year asking for money. Opportunity zones, a program that would encourage people to take unrealized capital gains and invest them in areas that are normally neglected. Prison, and the reforms that are occurring in the justice system.”

“If those are racist acts, show me more racist,” added Carson.