Reagan: U.S. "didn't know it had a racial problem"

Oh, the good old days! I just read in Time magazine a quote from Reagan during a debate with Carter (1980). Says that Ronnie talking about an America that existed "when I was young and when this country didn't even know it had a racial problem." Did he really says that? Did he really get AWAY with saying that? Pining for those good old days, when everyone knew their place and everyone was OK with it (or at least kept their complaints to themselves). Unbelievable. Somehow I think a very large part of America knew full-well they had a racial problem, but the whites just didn't want to deal with it. Harriet Martineau and Alexis de Tocqueville each separately saw it clear as day whay back in the 1830's--the difference between the stated principles of "all men are created equal" and the reality on the ground slapped them in the face. Ronnie, Ronnie, Ronnie. I was 18 in 1980, and don't remember him getting away with such poppycock. Maybe I wasn't sensitized to the issues yet, I don't know.