2 thoughts on “Interesting Article About George Wallace”

  1. Yes indeed, a very interesting article.

    George Wallace made his fateful stand. He made his points vocally, and then two black students admitted into the university of Alabama.

    One of the black students who enrolled that day was James Hood. In a 1989 interview he said “I was more concerned about ‘me’ than I was about the impact I had on others,”

    Hood called Wallace“one of the most astute Southern politicians that this country will ever know.” Hood maintained that Wallace’s position “had nothing to do with race” but about the very constitutional principles Wallace put forth. He also noted that Wallace’s stand was “courageous” and “very noble” because of the risks he took regarding his safety and the possibility of being jailed in order to keep his word to do what he promised.

    Hood did not consider Wallace a racist: “I think the problem of racism is an ingrained idea that people have and are willing to deny another whatever is justly theirs simply because of color. I don’t think George Wallace did that.”

    In 1987 Jesse Jackson came to Alabama for a chat with, seeking Wallace’s support . A downtrodden Wallace repeatedly referred to himself as “just a lame duck.” “You should not look at yourself as a lame duck, because it’s not true,” Jackson said. “Even now many people hear your voice.”

    We are left with two main takeaways from the life and impact of George Wallace. First, if his later years were an attempt at legacy control, it was an utter failure. Those on the right cannot seem to learn that trying to win points with the left and win battles on their home turf playing by the left’s warped rules is an exercise in futility. In spite of all that backtracking, Wallace is still reviled by them. His image will always be the one of racist defiance. because that image is what gains the left the most mileage. In spite of all his exertions, Wallace was never rehabilitated in the public mind.

    Second, Wallace’s campaigns had an enormous influence because of the support of the people. Without question, he jerked both parties to the right every time he took to a microphone and started shaking his fist. Wallace knew it, too. “They’re all saying today what I was saying back then,” he said in his latter days. “Reagan ran on everything I ran on … He even used some of the same phrases I used.”

    1. Thanks, Fred. Once the 14th amendment was passed, nearly 90 years prior, Wallace’ fight was foredoomed to failure at a certain point. And we have been dealing with the implications ever since then. It is one of the many reasons parents need to flee public schools.

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