Thursday, December 04, 2014

Wallace

Drive-By Truckers / The Three Great Alabama Icons

"Now Wallace started out as a lawyer and a judge with a very progressive and humanitarian track record for a man of his time, but he lost his first bid for governor in
1958 by hedging on the race issue against a man who spoke out against intergration. Wallace ran again in '62 as a staunch segregationist and won big and for the next decade he spoke out loudly. He accused Kennedy and King of being communist and he was constantly on national news representing "the good people" of Alabama...."

"...and George Wallace died back in '98 and he's in hell now, not because he's a racist. His track record as a judge and his late life quest for redemption make a good argument for his being, at worst, no worse than most white men of his generation, North or South. Because of his blind ambition
and his hunger for votes, he turned a blind eye to the suffering of black America and he became a pawn in the fight against Civil Rights cause.

"...fortunately for him, the devil is also a southerner."

2 comments:

tonylearns said...

Very cool.
Like drive bye Truckers and there is some good info in there!

Jay Alt said...

I despised Wallace when he was in office.
But years of being crippled in a wheelchair gave him plenty to think about. He eventually met, privately and individually, with civil rights leaders he had wronged. He apologized, asked their forgiveness and according to those who have spoken about it, they responded.