Former President Jimmy Carter criticized Americans, saying a great number still have “feelings of superiority to people of color.”
The 90-year-old Carter told AARP in an interview that recent stories about “mistreatment of black people in the judicial and police realm has been a reminder that the dreams of the civil rights movement have not been realized.”
“Many Americans still have racist tendencies or feelings of superiority to people of color,” the 39th president said.
Carter, who remains in the public eye via his humanitarian efforts and opinions on Israel and Palestinians, also criticized the influence money has in politics — comparing campaign spending now to when he launched his presidential campaign in 1976.
“I don’t think anybody now can hope to be the nominee of the Democratic or Republican Party if they can’t raise like a quarter of a billion dollars,” Carter said. “This massive infusion of money automatically polarizes our country.”
“When hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent tearing down the reputation of an opponent in order to get elected, animosity and negativism carries on into Washington,” he added.
So does Carter think he could run for president today and win?
“There was harmony among congressmen when I was there, and I got just as much support from Republicans as I did from Democrats,” he said.
