Jimmy Carter Drew Criticism For Rejecting Racist Beliefs

Carter served in the service following his graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy. During this period, he married and had three sons. (A girl named Amy was born as the fourth child in 1967.) After his father passed away in 1953, Carter was honorably discharged from the military and moved to Plains to take over the family peanut plantation. There, he saw that the South's ingrained racial prejudices were in direct opposition to his own progressive beliefs of integration. Carter declined to join the “White Citizens' Council” formed by Plains residents to oppose racist beliefs. Soon, racial slurs were written on signs that were stuck to his front door. Carter stuck to his guns, though, and in the 1960s, when voters were ready to support a politician without prejudice, he was chosen to serve in the Georgia State Senate.

Carter regrettably discovered that his liberal stances could only carry him so far in Georgia. Many of his previously-publicized opinions on racial equality were modified when he ran for state governor in 1970, prompting some to label him as prejudiced. However, after taking office, Carter reinstated a lot of his recommendations to eradicate segregation.