Carter On Racism: White House Disagrees

WASHINGTON — The White House says President Barack Obama doesn't believe he's being criticized because of his race.

Spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that Obama – the nation's first black president – doesn't think that criticism of his policies is "based on the color of his skin."

Gibbs was asked about the topic following comments on Tuesday by former President Jimmy Carter.

Carter said that Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during Obama's speech to Congress last week was "based on racism." Carter also said "There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president."

Gibbs says some people have disagreements with some of Obama's decisions but that those concerns were not because of his race.

Comments

[tponzo]

I applaud Jimmy Carter for asking America to confront the, often camouflaged, racism in our society. In some ways the election of President Obama has made the discourse on race more difficult. Well meaning, ignorant or willfully blind people can point to him and say "see we've gotten past that race thing" when we really still have a ways to go. Not everyone who disagrees with the president is racist but some of the more extreme behaviour, including Joe Wilson's outburst, would not occur if the president was not a black man and therefore seen as not worthy of the same level of respect. Much of the fear and anger displayed has more to do with race than political ideology. "I don't recognize my country anymore" is really fear that the leader of that country no longer looks familiar.. Trying to say that the president is not an American citizen or that he is a Muslim are extreme expressions of that fear. The level of fear expressed by people like those who refused to let their children listen to the presiden'ts speech on education seems out of proportion to the perceived offense and is reminiscent of the fears which led to the miscegenation laws that prevented intermarrying of the races. Until more of the white majority in America confronts and acknowleges the hidden racism, and the value, in our society, of white privilege, we will continue to flounder in the morass of a shameful, centuries old, american tradition.

[pericles21]

imho, President Carter is correct in the ultimate sense. The remarks and thinly-hidden inuendos from the extreme right wing media stars don't really fool anyone, but they do just barely manage to stay on the good side of blatant FCC hate crime violations. The Limbaughs and Becks use a vocabulary of code words that is widely understood. We all know hat is going on. We all know the desired effect. We all are anticipating the next "going Limbaugh" mass shooting. But, when the Limbaughs wave the Constitution, every decent inclination to stop Limbaugh simply evaporates but not without leaving a vapor trail of baqd feelings - discouragement and helplessness.

I believe this is all a modern dixie-crat strategy based on a racist ideology and techniques of intimidation, threat and murder stemming from the 1870s southern-based (south Carolina, principally) strategy to roll back Reconstruction.

Read these 1876 instructions to South Carolina (and Alabama, Mississippi, et al) "Red Shirts" on how to disrupt town hall meetings and see the match up with what is happening now...notice how casually murder is regarded...and not Joe Wilson represents the dark faction of the Sons of Confederate Veterans:
[http://itw.sewanee.edu/reconstruction/html/docs/redshirts.html].

[Manchesterian]

Nah, he does not. It is politically appropriate and expedient to say so though.

[research]

Conservatives are using racism to rile the dupes.

[wizegeye]

Actually, politicians are doing this. Both sides of the aisle.

[wizegeye]

For those who are disgusted by the offensive signs that some ill-mannered participants have brought to "tea party" demonstrations and townhall meetings, please check the link below:

http://www.ringospictures.com/index.php?page=20090816

[Number 6]

Fair enough. That does put the Tea Party extreme in somewhat different perspective. I guess we're not used to seeing it come from elderly obese WASPS.

[wizegeye]

It's sad that you feel you have to denegrate all those who disagree with the president. As with most movements, there are those on the radical fringe who hurt the credibility of those who have legitimate diagreements with policy. I wish more Repubs would condemn the actions of the fringe, but it hasn't happened to any great degree so far. There also are elderly folks who have genuine concerns about their healthcare and they have a right to voice those concerns, albeit in a thoughtful and respectful manner. Both sides of the aisle should remember that "those who live in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones."

[Bronxdude]

Does Joe Wilson really want to perpetuate the notion that South Carolina is an antiquated hub of racist malcontents? Then again, perhaps that’s the perception he wants to project — can’t let too many immigrants or minorities in, right? Like Trent Lott, I bet Joe longs for the days of Jim Crow — miss the “White only” drinking fountains, uh? Fortunately, Joe is not smart and polished like David Duke, so he fools no one! I bet every Sunday he sits in church and asks God to return America to its “traditional values” (wink, wink), i.e., White rule, segregated schools, poll taxes, separate and unequal facilities, lynching picnics, etc. Just like Trent Lott, Joe got caught-up in the hysteria of the moment and his racist alter ego reared its ugly head — oops! Make no mistake: Joe Wilson is a despicable, Klan loving racist who hides behind repugnant code words and a perverted Christian ideology. Even though he loathes Blacks, it would appear that Joe has no compunction about voting to send them to fight and die on foreign soil to preserve his right to spew vitriolic and polarizing rhetoric. I weep for Joe and his pathetic, hypocritical existence.

[Bronxdude]

I find it hard to believe that Joe Wilson is (1) college educated and (2) not taking reality-bending drugs like cretin Rush Limbaugh. South Carolina is a cesspool of low IQ racists; in private circles with cohorts of similar degenerate morals, Joe probably takes pleasure in using the “N” word and referring to President Obama as “boy”? Perhaps Joe and Trent Lott could rideshare to the next meeting of the South Carolina Chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Joe Wilson’s overtly bigoted bearing and lack of decorum speaks volumes about the type of inbred, knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing misfits he represents in Congress. So, when all is said and done, either Joe’s a racist, redneck, or dreadfully stupid. Since I’ve heard him speak publicly, I am inclined to think he’s just plain stupid! Still, I can’t help but think that late at night he dresses-up in his SS uniform and goose-steps around his hog farm chanting “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” I bet his definition of family fun night entails watching D. W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation” and reciting passages from “Mein Kaump.” Repugnant, disgusting and perverted!

[Bronxdude]

In an attempt to divide Americans by race, defeat health insurance reform and unite Birthers, Tea Baggers, Tinfoil Hatters, compassionless Christians and other bigoted malcontents – the new republican base, soul-less prostitutes Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Phil Gingrey (R-Georgia) are ginning up fear, advocating hate inspired civil disobedience, rejecting fact-based discourse and condoning violence as an acceptable change agent. Similar to Klan rallies, idiots like Gingrey are openly encouraging people to bring loaded guns to town hall meetings. The Limbaugh led Republican Party has evolved into an insidious, compassionless and implacable evil force totally committed to social injustice; starting with Reagan, republican ethics have slowly devolved into a seething mass of callous and destructive self-centeredness a notch below child molesters. Reagan demonized Medicare and sought to end reduced-fee lunch for students barely surviving in abject poverty. The notion of quality, affordable health insurance for every American is not complicated, especially when contemplated as a moral rather than a business decision. Health care is a fundamental right, not an expensive privilege decided by class, lineage, race or wealth. With Ted Kennedy gone, the marginalized, downtrodden, exploited and disenfranchised – manipulated like pawns and denied access to the political power necessary to influence constructive change – no longer have a standard-bearer, a voice at the table. Since soul-less republicans have collectively abandoned their moral reasoning, who among the democrats will emerge to save America and replace the “Lion of the Senate.”

[Bronxdude]

Something is amiss. Bush and his evil puppet master – Dick Cheney – lie to manipulate American patriotism to justify invading Iraq, and conservatives are silent. Bush inherits, then squanders a $759 billion surplus, and conservatives are silent. Bush appoints a horse trader to head FEMA, hundreds die of thirst in the aftermath of Katrina, and conservatives are mute. Bush guts the Geneva Conventions, authorizes torture, and conservatives are silent. Bush condones risky subprime mortgage derivatives, America dances on the precipice of economic annihilation, and conservatives are silent. Bush razes the Fourth Amendment, authorizes warrantless eavesdropping, and conservatives are silent. Bush signs $1.2 trillion Prescription Drug Bill, a federally subsidized give-away which balloons the deficit, and conservatives are silent. Bush diverts $1 trillion from the counter-terrorism struggle in Afghanistan, making America significantly less safe, and conservatives are silent. Bush signs unfunded NCLB legislation, the most intrusive federal education law in history, and conservatives are quiet. Bush delays processing of disability claims for Iraqi war veterans, and conservatives are silent. Bush deregulation exposes 2.5 million children to toxic toys from China, and conservatives are silent. Birthers delegitimize the first black president, choosing instead to ignore 8 years of Bush inflicted plunder and ruination, and conservatives are silent. Obama talks to school children about being successful, conservatives slash their wrist. Bush rambles incoherently while addressing school children in Florida, and republicans anoint him God. Racism, bigotry and hypocrisy: cherished planks in the republican platform.

[Number 6]

qqqqqqqqqq­qqqqqqqqqq­qq Wha...? Hmm? Sorry, I was resting my face on the keyboard.

[bannorhill]

Sixteen years ago Americans stood up to a white President and said they did not want government run health care.

Sixteen years later Americans are standing up to a black President and said they still do not want government run health care and suddenly it becomes a race issue.

It was true 16 years ago and it is still true today. Race has NOTHING to do with the opposition to the Presidents proposed policy.

[Buddy McCue]

You're not fooling anyone who has a first-hand knowledge of people being racist in their opposition to the President.

Like me, for example. Here in North Georgia, few racists try to hide their feelings and are often quite open about expressing these sentiments. I witness this stuff firsthand. I don't have to take anyone's word for it.

[bannorhill]

Where I live I have NOT seen the racism. I have seen outrage at the uncontrolled irresponsible spending.

[coollbreezz]

Jimmy Carter has more wisdom and experience than the whole White House combine. Their are few people in the US that has more wisdom than President Jimmy Carter. Yes Netanyahu and Zionist (AIPAC) hate Jimmy Carter with a passion as well as Obama because if want to establish a Palestinian State.
http://joeland7.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/obama-vs-netanyahu-the-big-showdown-obama-addresses-dr-henry-gates-controversy-israel-in-bible-prophecy/

[hmsbeagle]

"Ignorance is not merely the lack of knowledge, but self-destructive turning away from truth in all areas of life. Persons develop a taste for ignorance, the predisposition to embrace erroneous beliefs based on presumption or mere authority. The ignorant person believes he knows what he actually doesn't know. He becomes delusional. He is deranged." So declared Plato, unwittingly describing the face of 21st-century American conservatism in the age of Obama. Today, facts and fiction appear more interchangeable than ever before in America's public discourse.

[billygore2000]

Jimmy Carter's name is synonymous with human rights, which is synonymous with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. President Carter grew up a Southern white boy in the deep South, knowing white racism at first hand. He bravely countered the racism of the Georgia he grew up in, as did his mother "Miss Lillian" before him. He has lived to put a good face on being Southern, on being Baptist, and on being American. The day Joe Wilson wins the Nobel Peace Prize, as President Carter has, pigs won't fly because there won't be any. In other words, it ain't gonna happen. If Jimmy Carter says Joe Wilson is a racist, it's like chapter and verse from the bible and, sadly, all too true. Joe Wilson is a throwback to the horrible Old South. Wake up, South Carolina!

[joe conservative]

jimmy Carter's name is synonymous with an old tired anti-Semitic joke,

[StillAmused]

THE joe conservative?

Oh... now, I'm impressed!

M oron.

[hmsbeagle]

Thomas Jefferson famously said: "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilisation, it expects what never was and never will be." The fabric of American civilisation now faces one of its its toughest tests to date. Only time will tell whether it can it re-emerge from the darkness of ignorance.

[joe conservative]

That's exactly what this administration really needs, tying itself to a ubiquitous and vociferous jimmy carter.

[billygore2000]

This administration has just benefited from President Carter's courage to confront the truth!

[go23]

So Carter is more courageous than Obama? Obama disagrees with Carter, so either you are calling the dear leader a liar or you are saying he is a bigger coward than Carter. I actually agree with both your points. Good Job

[joe conservative]

Keep putting jc in the news headlines as supporting bo, the GOP just can't buy advertising like that.

[hmsbeagle]

Certainly everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but not everyone's entitled to their own facts.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/sep/16/joe-wilson-sarah-palin-healthcare-obama-liar?commentpage=2&commentposted=1

[DevonTexas]

Having spent time as a child in Birmingham, Alabama in the early 60's, I saw and heard the most extreme versions of racism upto and including the 16th Street Baptist Chuch bombing. Hatred of African Americans was a constant even on the playgrounds in elementary schools. What I see in the TeaBagger's Protest is more of the same.
They can hide behind whatever terminology they want but it is racism through and through. The 9/12 celebrations are as close to old school Klan rallies as it gets in the 21st century.

[Peleador]

Only you old people hang onto racism and your 'race goggles'. The rest of us don't give a darned about peoples' skin color.

[TruthSeeker09]

Yet another example of racism:

"Limbaugh says we need to return to 'segregated buses'"
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/17/limbaugh-segregated-busing/

[Number 6]

Well, after all, who among us was ever bullied by white kids?