The former president's remarks drew a rebuke Wednesday from Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, who called accusations of racism "an outrage."
The White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday, "The president does not believe that the criticism comes based on the color of his skin."
Mr. Obama has sought during his presidential campaign and much of his first months in office to downplay racial divisions. But Mr. Wilson's shout of "You lie," during Mr. Obama's speech on health care, and the reaction to that event, have brought sensitive issues of race back to the surface.
Mr. Carter made his remarks about Rep. Wilson's interruption in response to a question at a town-hall meeting in Atlanta on Tuesday. "There is an inherent feeling among many people in this country that an African-American ought not to be president, and ought not to be given the same respect as if he were white," Mr. Carter said.
"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," Carter told NBC News.
He said this "racism inclination still exists. And I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply."
Mr. Steele, who is African-American, replied on Wednesday. "Characterizing Americans' disapproval of President Obama's policies as being based on race is an outrage and a troubling sign about the lengths Democrats will go to disparage all who disagree with them," Mr. Steele said."President Carter is flat out wrong. This isn't about race. It is about policy," he said in a statement. "This is a pathetic distraction by Democrats to shift attention away from the president's wildly unpopular government-run healthcare plan that the American people simply oppose."
The furor didn't prompt Mr. Carter to back down. He reiterated his argument in a talk Wednesday night at Emory University, citing various attacks on Mr. Obama, though not Mr. Wilson's comment.
Mr. Wilson couldn't be reached Wednesday. On the Washington Times'"America's Morning News" radio program Wednesday, Mr. Wilson said, "That is such a distraction and a diversion from the issues that we should be discussing."
Previous Controversial.
Obama, America's first black president, was steering clear of the issue, weeks after he injected himself into a debate about race in Massachusetts after black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested at his own home on suspicion of breaking into it.
After Obama created an uproar by saying that Cambridge, Massachusetts, police had acted stupidly in the case, he later expressed regret for the tone of his remarks and had the professor and police officer to the White House for a beer in what was dubbed a "beer summit."
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the uproar among Obama's opponents was more likely a reaction to some of the decisions Obama had made to help the U.S. economy, such as bank and auto bailouts.
"We understand that people have disagreements with some of the decisions that we've made," he said.
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