When Presidents Talk...

Yesterday, President Jimmy Carter injected race into the political conservation as it pertains to President Obama and his approval especially amongst the heated health care debate. President Carter told NBC's Brian Williams that he believes that race is at the core of much of the opposition that is out there against President Obama. As someone who grew up and has spent the majority of his life in the South, Carter feels that the South has come a long way as has the rest of the country in terms of their attitude toward minority groups; especially African Americans. However, despite that progress, racism still exists according to Carter. He feels that there are many, not just in the South, who view African Americans as not qualified to lead this country.

Carter said,

"Signs carried by protesters at the 9/12 anti-government march on Washington such as 'we should bury Obama[care] with Kennedy, for instance, and Obama is a Nazi and Obama's pictures with Hitler's mustache on it -- those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate over whether we should have a national program in health care or not,' the former president said. It's deeper than that."

The White House and their strategists have viewed the disgruntled individuals as having policy concerns or quips with the economic crisis and those who caused it and not being geared by racial motivation against the President.

Now, when a former President stands up and voices his opinion on a matter; it is definitely worth looking at and analyzing. Personally, Carter might have went a slight bit overboard, but he is not extremely far off the mark. The White House and the President know they must stay on the right side of the argument and not make too big an issue of this matter. Carter, on the other hand, has been a man of social justice for much of his life. He has served his country in various facets including the United States Navy. Yes, Carter comes from a different time. He grew up in the Jim Crow South several years before the likes of Martin Luther King, Jr or John Lewis would emerge. Unfortunately, something that I have come to realize in my short life through studies and real life examples; certain people choose not to view everyone equally. Why are there people with racist signs at a rally that should be about issues? Why did so many people decide to vote against Barack Obama strictly because he was not white? You would be foolish to dismiss the fact that there are pockets of this country that are racist and maybe just maybe some are against this health care legislation only because they feel that a black man does not know how to lead.

President Carter might not have been the best president in our history, but he has a lot to offer and the core of his comments are worth listening to. Sometimes, you might not like what they say, but when former president talk it is worth listening to cause at one time or another we had faith in them to lead this country. Some are better than others, but at the end of the day they deserve a little respect. Especially when it comes from someone who has given so much back throughout his whole life.