Posted on 06/01/2006 10:14:41 AM PDT by Sabramerican
Jimmy Carter: Recovering Racist, Still a Bigot
By Julia Gorin
Jimmy Carter has been called everything from a humanitarian, to a crack pot, to the ultimate pacifist. But a look into his past reveals a shoe that fits better than all of these.
It's a story told to me by an acquaintance from Watertown, NY, a place situated way upstate, well north of Syracuse. The acquaintance had heard it from two barflies who were there the night in 1975 that Jimmy Carter passed through town in his first New York appearance during the "250-day 1975 portion of the presidential campaign," as Carter had called it.
The story goes that after giving a speech at the Holiday Inn, Carter stopped by the Rebel Room Tavern, a bar that once existed near the old Woolworth building and catered to southern servicemen based near by. Not knowing that an employee from the local paper was present, Carter joked around with the locals and, as two of those locals related the story to my friend, "every other word out of his mouth was 'nigger' or 'kike.'" But styling itself after The New York Times, the paper didn't print undignified information about candidates it was friendly toward, and the potentially damaging tidbit never made it into print.
At least that's how the story goes.
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
Both Dems and GOP share responsbility for past racial inequities. Reconstruction was hardly a shining moment in GOP history. We can continue to the discussion on that thread if you would like.
Agreed. I wasn't trying to trash the South per se. In a way, they're only being honest while some northerners who don't talk such trash actually are(were) closet racists. Although the number of genuine racists I think is much less than when I was young.
I do have to say that the guy I knew from Louisiana who talked that way was probably not a "real" racist. His best friend growing up was a black neighbor kid. He took flying lessions from a black flight instructor (black pilots are relatively rare). He explained it that where he grew up, everybody just talked that way. Everybody. Blacks, whites, everybody.
He seemed like a decent guy. How would I really know what he thought inside?
That's fine but the belief, willingly spread through the media, that the GOP is responsible for the inner city problems today which are a result of discrimination, and have done nothing about it while the rats have embraced the problems with open arms is bogus...
Why not? it looked good. What makes you say that?
Actually, everyone still does talk that way. Granted, I really don't use slurs all that often, but the fact is, you'll see kids, whom, more than half their friends are black, who love rap music, but, when just in an audience of their white friends, they use the word, and they use it because that's just the way people talk. Most people who tell insensitive jokes in the South don't do it out of prejudice or malice, they do it because that's part of the culture. If Carter did actually say this, he probably said it because of where he was, namely, a bar frequented primarily by Southerners, who in 1975, probably still talked in language like that. There is nothing wrong with telling an offensive joke if no malice is meant by it, and you tell it in the company of people who know where you're coming from. These kind of jokes are inappropriate for mixed company, but they're also harmless. David Allan Coe put out a couple of albums a while back and they had several songs laced with racial epithets. I should note that one of Coe's band members is black.
To tell you the truth, I have found in my life that the people who actually are racist are the ones who don't use epithets and who never laugh when an offensive joke is told. That's just in my personal experience in this area.
Carter was term limited in 1974. If he had run for reelection, I wonder how strong of a challenge he would have had.
The article definitely explains why Carter is so pro PLO. When you think about it, there is a definite Anti-semetic sentiment in everything he says and does.
But, why then did the American Jewish community supported his presidential run against Ford?
Similar to the change in "classic liberalism" and "modern liberalism." Just my .02
I don't believe this story. We southerners don't use the word "kike". I am not sure I know what it means. Even in 1975 in the south, the "n" word was not used in groups of strangers and especially not by politicians.
There are plenty of other things to fault old Jimmy for but not this.
Jimmuh Carter.......the reason I started voting Republican.
I agree, for the reasons you cite. The story doesn't ring true. As for Jimmy's previous alleged flirtations with racism more than a generation ago and his recognition of Jews as an interest group ... So what? I am far more disturbed by the blatant racism, today, of many black and Hispanic "leaders." As for Carter, the issue today is his anti-Americanism and his anti-American utterances and conduct abroad.
Gerald Ford was quite hostile to Israel during his short presidency. Jimmy Carter managed to appear as a supporter of Israel and the Jews. They were fooled, even though Carter never fooled me and I voted for Ford even though I didn't like his stance toward Israel and didn't like him.
Ford was mediocre at best and I really still am incensed by the repubs not putting Reagan up. He, (Reagan) was very feisty then and would have been able to do more...but the USA had yet to hit rock bottom on many fronts, thus paving the way for his popularity.
"I don't believe this story. We southerners don't use the word "kike". I am not sure I know what it means. Even in 1975 in the south, the "n" word was not used in groups of strangers and especially not by politicians. "
That's true to a degree. It was never used by politicians amongst strangers, but politicians did use it. Several times in the company of my father, granted, these were men he had known for a long time, and men whom well, they'd all grown up together. This said, I do doubt the veracity of the story because well, Carter was one of few people in South Georgia who refused membership in the WCC when it was offered to him. Also, the idea that he was running for President in New York, that alone makes the story sound suspect. If this had been Chicago or Detroit, I'd find it more credible.
But, the coverup could apply to LBJ. If you believe Dick Morris' stories, the story could also apply to the Bent One.
And we all know how the LSM reported on every salicious rumor or misdeed Bill Clinton was invovled with.
I believe that Jimmy Carter is a Christian, albeit a seriously misguided one.
Tokyo Rose was much younger, IIRC, thus not yet senile. The best reaction to Carter by now is a sad smile of recognition that in our old age any of us, too, could become an incoherent drooler. Reacting to him at any more serious level only elevates him out of his richly deserved irrelevancy.
Bump
Completely agreed.
As much as I despise him, I can not buy this. Even passing along such inflamatory but completely unsubstantiated gossip reflects poorly on those whose tongues are wagging.
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