(CNN) -- Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that racial politics has played a role in some of the opposition the president has faced since taking office.
"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American," Carter told NBC News. "I live in the South, and I've seen the South come a long way, and I've seen the rest of the country that shares the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African-Americans."
"That racism inclination still exists, and I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of belief among many white people -- not just in the South but around the country -- that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply," Carter said.
Carter made similar remarks at an event at his presidential center in Atlanta, Georgia, The Associated Press reported Tuesday, pointing to some protesters who have compared Obama to a Nazi. "Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care," the former president said at the Carter Center, according to AP. "It's deeper than that."
He grouped Wilson's shout of "You lie!" during Obama's speech in that category, according to AP. "I think it's based on racism. There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president," he said.
"The president is not only the head of government, he is the head of state. And no matter who he is or how much we disagree with his policies, the president should be treated with respect."
I think that some Democrats, not only Jimmy Carter, are using President Obama's race and ethnic backround to prevent people from disagreeing with his ideas. Some Republicans are hesitate to speak their mind in fear that they will be deemed racist. Also, I am almost positive that if Hillary Clinton was president, someone who disagreed with her would be called sexist by some. However, I do not believe that every single Democrat would call them racist, only a few. I am glad that President Obama did publicly mention that he disagreed with Carter's accusation. It was not based on race, it was based on passion for Wilson's political party.
ReplyDeleteI think it's unfair that Carter accused Wilson of being racist. I do agree, however, that the president should be treated with respect no matter what the case is. I believe that racism may have something behind other people disagreeing with Obama, but I don't think that Wilson himself was racist.
ReplyDelete-Hailey F2
I think that the racism exist in the politics but in this case I don't believe that Wilson was racist. There's a lot of racism against the president but he has to be treated with respect because he represents the nation what means every citizens.
ReplyDeleteLuiza E5
I agree with you, Justin. You stole the words right from my mouth! I honestly view this as their way of ignoring how some of the people in this country feel about the things that are being done. We have opinions! Just because our opinions on something are disagreeing with what Obama wants, does NOT mean we are racist. We will form our own opinions no matter who is president. We didn't agree with half of the stuff President Bush was doing, and he was White! I will agree, however, with the fact that our president, despite whoever he/she is, should be treated with respect. Any leader of our country gains the right to have respect, but so does every other person in this country. We should be respected for our ideas and opinions, and not judged on them. This is a free nation, and one of our many rights is to speak our mind. Well, we've done that, and now we're being accused of racism. Ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteIn any situation, it's a serious deal to call someone a racist, especially if you don't have a legitamite reason. Like Hailey said, some people's feelings toward Obama might be based on racism, but it doesn't mean that this is the case for every complint made about what he is doing. I was also under the impression that many people were supportive of and voted for Obama BECAUSE he is black, not in spite of it.
ReplyDeleteJust think, if the majority of people in this country were racist and didn't want Obama to become president, do you think he would have?
I really must agree with the people who have commented before me. I think that people are taking the racism idea way too far. People should know that he is the President and thats not going to change for another four years at least. Also, I don't think there has been a single president that didn't have at least someone disagree with him. Just because this one just so happens to be a different color doesn't mean that everyone who disagrees with him is a racist. Sure some people may be against him because of his backround, but that is completely irrelevant in most cases to a person disagreeing with what he says. I could care less what race he is, people should be more concerned with how he is running the nation they live in. Not what his color is.
ReplyDeleteThe President should still be respected even if he is black because his position is very important. Kinda think that didn't have anything to do with racism though.
ReplyDeleteIn my Opinion, I'm going to have to say that just because someone disagrees with Obama does not mean they are racist. If a african american disagreed with something that Bush might have said, would that mean that person was racist? No matter what color the president is he should be treated with as much respect as possible. I'm gonna agree with Katie and say that it shouldn't matter what color he is, we should care about how he is running our country.
ReplyDeleteNO MORE COMMENTS.
ReplyDelete