Carter: her handshake was worth to me more than a billion yankee votes

[robbedvoter]

I loved Carter speech today - and appreciated his speaking truth to power.
All in all, I like more things about him than I dislike (especially his taking a stand on the wiretaping).
However today, my stomach lurched when he said that quote.
Is it wrong of me to be disturbed that a former president is disclosing that he never gave a damn about me ?
I mean, I know Poppy said atheists aren't citizens and W only cares of the wealthy and powerful, but I was shocked to find out that I was "the enemy" to Carter as well. That he's still resenting me for the Civil war they lost...
ready to be flamed now - but I needed to get it out of my chest.

[converted_democrat]

1. So, you're upset about what?

Because Carter said yankee? I don't understand what you're upset about..

[robbedvoter]

11. That "yankee votes" were second class to him.

I'm a bit fed up of being ignored - didn't need this revelation from the past.
Southern people feel that entitlement to resentment over the civil war . Bugs me.

[converted_democrat]

23. I didn't take it that way at all.

I took it as a supreme compliment to Mrs. King. To me, it was like he was stating that as a president (who needs votes to get in office in the first place) her handshake was worth more than votes.. Carter has done alot of civil rights work, so I just have a hard time believing that he harbors bad feelings over how the Civil War ended.. (If it was someone like Trent Lott had made the comment than I may have agreed with you.) I was born up North, but I live in the South now, and Yank isn't a bad term 98% of the time.. It's just how Southerners identify people from up North..

on edit- to make clearer..

[robbedvoter]

40. Yeah," the ones who took away our slaves"....tired of it!

[converted_democrat]

45. Are you talking about Jimmy Carter, or just southerners in general??

Doesn't really matter because either way you're wrong.. Jimmy Carter would not have spoken at a Mrs. King's funeral if he was "upset" about the ending of the civil war.. Yank is a term to describe people from up north period.. That's all it is.. Ignorance and thin skin are attractive on no one...

[RagAss]

35. Don't take it in that light......

I moved to the south 15 years ago from Connecticut....my neighbors call me "Yankee" all the time....they are the best friends I ever had..and have proved that time and again in the way they have treated me and my family..we would give the shirts off our back for each other....it's just a term...my kids were born down here and the call me Yankee too....

wish I could explain it better but that's just the way it is.....

[TallahasseeGrannie]

2. He's an old guy

from Plains, Georgia. That about says it all.

But I'm fond of him.

[dflprincess]

3. Perhaps - he meant that for him as Southern man

the approval of Mrs. King meant more than the approval of a bunch of Northern white liberals (that would be people like me) - because it might be a better indicator of the kind of job he's really doing in regard to civil and human rights. (Am I making sense - I know what I want to say but I don't think I'm being very articulate)

[WI_DEM]

8. That's the way I took it.

[slor]

16. Exactly what he meant...

that is all,

[robbedvoter]

24. yeah, I took it the same way - and didn't like it.

[fishwax]

32. I don't understand why that would offend you

His stances on civil rights won him (a) viability as a candidate among northern liberals (the yankee votes) and (b) the respect of CSK (her handshake). Saying the handshake meant more doesn't dismiss your value as a citizen any more than if he had said the respect of his children means more than all the votes he got for president.

He singled out "yankee votes," because advocating civil rights didn't win you a lot of southern votes, according to the CW back in the day.

[lastliberalintexas]

34. That's because you're a Northener and can't possibly

understand how much it would have meant to a Southern white man of Carter's generation to receive such a stamp of approval from the leading African American figures promoting civil rights issues. As a Northerner you can't possibly understand how deep the divide between the races was for people of the Carter/King generation in the South. As a Northerner you can't possibly understand how Carter must have felt to know that the Kings did not view him with the same mistrust that African Americans in the South rightly viewed the vast majority of whites.

It wasn't a commentary of any kind on Northerners or even Yankees. It was simply a beautiful comment on how much he appreciated the Kings, and really had nothing to do with anyone else.


If that offends you, I'm sorry. Southerners (and esp Texans) are routinely trashed on this board as well. You learn to live with it eventually. :shrug:

[MichiganVote]

39. Sorry to disappoint you but there are plenty of we northern types who

witnessed blatant racism, were part of the hysterical racism prevalent in all areas of the country, hid scared to death when the riots took over the cities and applauded Martin Luther King and his supporters. We too appreciate and value the trust of those who were abused for the sake of power or the color of one's skin.

Who were we? We were the children who grew up in or among the racist northern whites. I'd lay money there are plenty of stories available on this board you haven't heard from the northies.To assume that those of us who grew up with racism as a daily diet in any part of the country---we do understand and you are wrong to suggest otherwise. Northies may be ignorant of some of the realities of the south, you may also be ignorant of the realities of the northern child's experience.

As for those who you feel have trashed you or the South on this board, I'd say this is an equal opportunity trash board. I don't see anything special here against any one group more than another.

[never_get_over_it]

44. That's exactly what he meant

he wasn't disrespecting Yankees I'm a freaking Yannkee and VERY PROUD OF IT - he was saying that getting the handshake of Mrs King and her father-in-law was an endorsement that he wasn't some Jim Crow Southerner - he was probably dissing southerners more than Yankees.

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. You know how it comes across to me?

Civil rights and equal rights was a big issue in Jimmy Carter's time and, considering where he lived, I think what he was trying to say was that making that kind of genuine contact with Mrs. King (which I presume you're talking about) was more important than winning elections. Because, as a Southerner, he would have had to win the "Yankee" vote.

It's not that he thought of you less, but having a genuine friendship with black Americans was a major crossroad for him and for us, as a country. I guess you would have to remember the times, to understand what was accomplished. As bad as things are today, they were a lot worse, back then.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

5. For Real?? It Seems To Be Pretty Evident That He Isn't Saying He Didn't

care about you or the others, and that what he is really saying is that he cares more for even being sincere to one person than to be fake for sake of politics just to win votes. It was a statement on the importance of being genuine even to one person, as opposed to being disingenuine to the masses just to be popular.

I'm not sure how the hell anyone could take offense to a statement like that, but ok.

[LostinVA]

7. That's completely how I took it, too.

[Javaman]

6. I'm a Yankee and I love Jimmy...

Campaigning as a southern peanut farmer in the northeast was hard as hell for him. Face it, as much as he has southern pride we Northerner's from time to time have Northern ignorance. "If you ain't from the northeast, what's the point?" I heard that a lot growing up.

So I take absolutely no offense to his comment. I completely understand why he said it.

[robbedvoter]

9. I understand why he said it too - I just wish he didn't.

I don't pride myself on any ignorance. And I think a president (present/former) has to - at least pretend - to value all his voters equally.

[alcibiades_mystery]

20. Ay yay yay

Can I have some sugar with that tempest in your teapot. Jeez.

Ridiculous.

[robbedvoter]

21. Thank you for the extra helping contempt. It's what I was looking for.

[MichiganVote]

10. "Yankee notes" is a historical figure of speech, grow a thicker skin

[robbedvoter]

12. Why? I don't want a thicker skin. I want to keep feeling.

[MichiganVote]

25. Ok. Suit yourself and suffer.

[qanda]

13. I think what he actually said was

Each one of those handshakes, was worth a million yankee votes. He was talking about how being seen with the King family legitimized him as a Southern candidate capable of becoming president.

[tatertop]

31. I think you got it right

[dflprincess]

41. I'm watching the repeat of the funeral

and just heard Carter make that remark and I think your take on it is correct. He definitely meant that being seen shaking hands with Mrs. King helped him get more "Yankee" votes.

[Maru Kitteh]

14. Did you possibly get your quote wrong there?

I heard him say that they (handshakes with Coretta and MLK) meant more to him than the million yankee votes it was going to cost him.


Maybe I'm wrong - that's just what I heard.

[qanda]

15. I think the OP got the quote wrong

I posted just above you about what he actually said. It's not verbatim, but I believe it is very close.

[robbedvoter]

19. I am pretty sure he didn't say anything about cost - I was listening

carefully.

[johnaries]

17. Obviously, yankee votes meant a LOT to him!

Why would he say that something meant more to him than something worthless? No, he was saying that as much as he appreciated yankee votes, Coretta's handshakes meant even more.

Maybe you don't remember, but as a Southern running for President he had to FIGHT VERY HARD for those yankee votes, and each one was precious to him.

[robbedvoter]

18. I suppose so...

[Sparkly]

22. I thought he said every handshake was worth a million Yankee votes

meaning that her appearances supporting him gained him votes in the North.

[robbedvoter]

27. No, he said "more important than". Pretty sure.

[tatertop]

37. I think qanda has this figured out in post 13

President Carter went on to discuss
how the Kings never let him forget the
importance of that handshake and how
from time to time they called in a favor
for the benefit of others.
Yankees saw that handshake as Carter's
affirmation of his commitment to equal rights for blacks,
thereby winning him millions of Yankee votes.

[Little Star]

26. I'm a damn white yankee

and I also would value a handshake with Coretta Scott King and what she and her husband stood and fought for more than any votes, be they yankee or rebel. I think President Carter's words were meant to express how much he valued her fight for civil rights. I did not find it offensive in the least, I rather admired him for being so courageous to say it.

[robbedvoter]

29. But is it courage? Is it appropriate? "The dream" - MLK's was not

about yankees being put down by the South, but about all living in harmony. That (and non-violence) was the spirit of the day - and that's why his remark jarred me so much. Sorry, I found it divisive, not courageous.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

28. ohh puhlease!

its not personal.

he was just saying mrs king was more important to him than his popularity was.

[robbedvoter]

30. Could that have been put in non'Civil War terms? (You're probably right)

Why is it that we always find acceptable from the Southern people to keep it going, while the rest of us have to have "a sense of history"?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

33. well aside from you...the rest of us seem rather ok with carters speech

so maybe you should try to see why you need validation from carter that your vote counts.

[mmonk]

36. I think you read too much into that line.

[dsc]

38. You totally misunderstood that line

I am listening to his speech now and just finished that part. He was saying that her handshake allowed him to get Yankee votes. It was a very real line of thought that a Southern governor was a non starter as a Democratic Presidential candidate. She had helped to legitimize him in the eyes of northerners. It should be noted that you added a word to the quote. He didn't say more.

[Hippo_Tron]

42. Remember, back when Carter was running, Northeast = Red States

Massachusetts, New York, and Rhoide Island were blue but Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, Vermont, New Jersey and Maine were all GOP leaning.

Also, remember that back then, southern candidates were often looked down upon as a negative reflection of some of the more regressive leaders that came from that region. The idea that a southern Governor could be president seemed ridiculous to some which is hard to imagine considering that we now are like actively seeking southern governors to run for president.

That's why carter was saying that recieving yankee votes were a big deal, but her handshake was an even bigger deal.

[Sapphire Blue]

43. You are misrepresenting what Carter said. Might you apologize?

One's stomach should lurch when one misquotes/misrepresents what another says... then registers unjustified indignation based on that misquote/misrepresentation.