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Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter called Wednesday for Americans in positions of power and influence to fight racial injustice, saying "silence can be as deadly as violence."

The 95-year-old former president is the latest living president to weigh in on the nationwide protests.

He issued a statement through the Atlanta-based Carter Center to address the angry and sometimes violent protests that have roiled the nation in wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. 

Meanwhile, hundreds of mourners in Minneapolis remembered George Floyd, the black man whose death in police custody set off a wave of nationwide protests that reached the doors of the White House and ignited a debate about race and justice.

Across the nation, huge crowds have defied curfews and taken to the streets of cities for nine nights in sometimes violent protests that prompted President Donald Trump to threaten to send in the military.

The sitting president has also repeatedly lauded authorities for using "overwhelming force" and "domination" in Washington on Twitter.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Wednesday said r that he does not support invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty forces to quell civil unrest for now.

On the same day, his predecessor Jim Mattis also voiced criticism, accusing Trump of trying to divide America and roundly denounced a militarization of the U.S. response to civil unrest.

Jimmy Carter: privileged, powerful must fight racial biases

Cater said the U.S. needs a government "as good as its people", without directly mentioning Trump's handling of the protests and racial unrest.

Carter said he had declared "the time for racial discrimination is over" during his 1971 inauguration speech as Georgia's governor, and bemoaned that he's repeating those words almost 50 years later.

"We all must shine a spotlight on the immorality of racial discrimination," Carter said. "But violence, whether spontaneous or consciously incited, is not a solution."

He said his decades working to improve human rights worldwide have taught him that people of influence can't remain silent.

"People of power, privilege, and moral conscience must stand up and say 'no more' to a racially discriminatory police and justice system, immoral economic disparities between whites and blacks, and government actions that undermine our unified democracy," Carter said.

Barack Obama: opportunity for reform

In a live video on Wednesday, former President Barack Obama applauded the "profound" protests by Americans demanding racial justice and said the demonstrations could spark nationwide reforms. 

He urged state and local authorities to review their policies on use of force. "In some ways, as tragic as these last few weeks have been, as difficult and scary and uncertain as they've been, they've also been an incredible opportunity for people to be awakened to some of these underlying trends," Obama said via livestream from his home in Washington, D.C.  

"And they offer an opportunity for us to all work together to tackle them, to take them on, to change America and make it live up to its highest ideals."

He also directly addressed young Americans of color, telling them, "I want you to know that you matter, I want you to know that your lives matter, that your dreams matter."

As the first black U.S. president, Obama has made several remarks in the past week on the Floyd case, which called for injustice.

He also condemned the use of violence at nationwide protests, saying violence was "compounding the destruction of neighborhoods that are often already short on services and investment and detracting from the larger cause."

George W. Bush: 'shocking failure'

On Tuesday, Former President George W. Bush said the killing of Floyd reflected a "shocking failure" concerning racism in the country, and urged that protesters be heard, in sharp contrast to Trump's get-tough approach.

Without mentioning Trump by name, Bush suggested it was out of step with the country's values to have driven protesters from Lafayette Square across from the White House on Monday just before Trump walked through for a photo opportunity.

"The only way to see ourselves in a true light is to listen to the voices of so many who are hurting and grieving," Bush said in a statement. "Those who set out to silence those voices do not understand the meaning of America – or how it becomes a better place."

"It is time for America to examine our tragic failures – and as we do, we will also see some of our redeeming strengths," said the 43rd U.S. president, who served from 2001 to 2009.

"It remains a shocking failure that many African Americans, especially young African American men, are harassed and threatened in their own country," he said.

"This tragedy – in a long series of similar tragedies – raises a long overdue question: How do we end systemic racism in our society?"

Bill Clinton: what if Floyd was white?

Former President Bill Clinton released a statement on Saturday condemning the police brutality on Flyod.

"No one deserves to die the way George Floyd did. And the truth is, if you're white in America, the chances are you won't."

He also raised a series of questions: "If George Floyd had been white, handcuffed, and lying on the ground, would he be alive today? Why does this keep happening? What can we do to ensure that every community has the police department it needs and deserves?"

"People with power should go first – answer the questions, expand who's 'us' and shrink who's 'them' accept some blame, and assume more responsibility," Clinton added. "But the rest of us have to answer these questions too."

(With input from agencies)