Former president Jimmy Carter is throwing down the color card. On Tuesday, Carter told NBC that race is at the heart of much of the opposition to President Barack Obama.

"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's African American," Carter told NBC in an interview. "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. . . . It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply."

Nevertheless, Carter is predicting Obama will "triumph over the racist attitude that is the basis for the negative environment that we see so vividly demonstrated in public affairs in recent days."

Carter isn't the only one alleging racism. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd got into the accusatory fray after Congressman Joe Wilson hollered, “You lie” at Obama during his congressional address on healthcare last week. Dowd asserted:

“Surrounded by middle-aged white guys... Joe Wilson yelled 'You lie!' at a president who didn't. Fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!... But Wilson's shocking disrespect for the office of the president - no Democrat ever shouted 'liar' at W when he was hawking a fake case for war in Iraq - convinced me: Some people just can't believe a black man is president and will never accept it.

Rep. Henry Johnson stirred up painful images of America's mistakes when he jumped into the accusation pool with his statement: "I guess we'll probably have folks putting on white hoods and white uniforms again and riding through the countryside intimidating people. That's the logical conclusion if this kind of attitude is not rebuked."

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs loosely addressed the racism allegations, saying he doesn't think the president believes people are upset because of the color of his skin. Obama has not come out directly to address the issue.

Will the racism bandwagon backfire on the Democrats as they continue to push government-sponsored healthcare? Do these types of allegations cast a shadow over the unity Obama pledged to bring during his administration? Is this really change? Or is it a return to the darker days of American history when race was really the issue?

Jennifer LeClaire is the editor of The Voice magazine and author of "Doubtless: Faith that Overcomes the World." You can find her online at www.jenniferleclaire.org.