US President Barack Obama does not believe current criticism of his policies is based on the colour of his skin, the White House has said.

白宫发言人称，美国总统奥巴马不承认关于他的政策是基于他的种族的评论。

Barack Obama has been met with angry protests in recent weeks

It was responding to comments by former President Jimmy Carter that much of the vitriol（硫酸盐，讽刺） against Mr Obama's health and spending plans was "based on racism¹".

Mr Carter said many thought an African-American should not be president.

Congress has also witnessed an outburst（爆发，突发） against Mr Obama that led to the rebuke²（指责，非难） of Republican lawmaker Joe Wilson.

Mr Wilson's son has denied any suggestion of racism in the outburst and some conservatives have accused the president's supporters of playing the race card.

'Disagreements'

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Mr Obama "does not believe that the criticism comes based on the colour of his skin".

"We understand that people have disagreements with some of the decisions that we've made and some of the extraordinary actions that had to be undertaken by this administration," Mr Gibbs said.

Mr Obama has been met with angry protests in recent weeks. Some people have not only protested against the president's policies but have accused him of tyranny（压制统治，保证） and have promised to "reclaim³ America".

"Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national programme on healthcare," Mr Carter said at a public meeting at his Carter Center in Atlanta.

"It's deeper than that."

Responding to a question specifically on the Congress outburst by Mr Wilson, he said Mr Obama was the head of state as well as the head of government and - like heads of state elsewhere - he should be "treated with respect".

Mr Wilson was rebuked⁴ on Tuesday in a House vote, which said he had breached⁵（裂口，违背） decorum（端正，礼仪）.

He had shouted "You lie!" while Mr Obama was delivering an address on healthcare to Congress last Wednesday.

Mr Wilson's eldest⁶ son, Alan, denied racism was a factor in his father's outburst.

"There is not a racist⁷ bone in my dad's body," he said.

Mr Wilson himself maintained that his personal apology to Mr Obama should have been enough to resolve the matter.

Mr Obama "graciously（仁慈地） accepted my apology and the issue is over", he said.