Racism At Heart of Anti-Obama Sentiment: Carter

What's behind all the uproar from certain circles about Barack Obama, health insurance reform and just about anything about you can think of? What's behind all the signs purporting to socialism and naziism (which are mutually exclusive, by the way; just think of how Hitler felt about the U.S.S.R.)? Jimmy Carter summed it up in one word: racism.

When bringing up racism, Jimmy Carter was specifically addressing the "You Lie!" outburst by S.C. Congressman Joe Wilson last week during Barack Obama's speech on health insurance reform.

"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.

"Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care. It's deeper than that."

Earlier Jimmy Carter outlined his concerns about racism against Barack Obama in an interview that aired Tuesday on "NBC Nightly News.”

“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 is African-American.

“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 shared the South’s attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African Americans. And that racism inclination still exists. And I think it’s bubbled up to the surface because of the 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 grieves me and concerns me very deeply."

In fact, Jimmy Carter's comments on racism and Barack Obama may be true, but perhaps too simplistic a view of what is happening. Comparing a black man to a Nazi is obviously ridiculous, based on Hitler's views on blacks. Speaking to a psychologist, it may be more deeply rooted than that.

Things are changing. For example, in the relatively near future, whites will no longer be the majority in this country. While there are white supremacist groups chanting that whites need to take back the country, in reality, if any taking back of this country needs to occur, it needs to be from Native Americans. But I digress.

The GOP is predominantly male, and white. In general, people do not like change. Change has come in the form of an African-American president. That frightens people. As the GOP has been known to stir the pot of the "politics of fear," it would seem that fear, pure, unrelenting fear of the type that FDR warned against, is causing these outbursts.

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