George Wallace, Reformed Racist

We're seeing the name "George Wallace" in the news quite a bit these days, in connection with the racism demonstrated by Trump and his followers. Wallace was governor of Alabama and ran for nomination as president in four consecutive elections. According to his Wikipedia entry:

Wallace is remembered for his Southern neo-dixiecrat and "Jim Crow" attitudes during the mid-20th century period of the Civil Rights Movement, declaring in his 1963 Inaugural Address that he stood for "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever," and standing in front of the entrance of the University of Alabama in an attempt to stop the enrollment of black students.

After running for governor of Alabama in 1958, and losing:

... aide Seymore Trammell recalled Wallace saying, "Seymore, you know why I lost that governor's race? ... I was outniggered by John Patterson. And I'll tell you here and now, I will never be outniggered again."

He found that racism worked for him as an electoral strategy. After winning the governorship in 1962, he said:

"You know, I tried to talk about good roads and good schools and all these things that have been part of my career, and nobody listened. And then I began talking about niggers, and they stomped the floor."

Whatever works, I guess.



He was shot in a 1972 assassination attempt, and he spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. His would-be assassin was released on parole on November 9, 2007.

Reading his Wikipedia entry, I discovered something I didn't know: He flew B-29 bombing missions over Germany under Curtis LeMay; when he ran for president in 1968, he selected Curtis LeMay as his candidate for vice president. More importantly, I learned something I didn't realize, or had forgotten: Wallace changed his attitude and spent the last ten years of his life apologizing for his earlier racist beliefs. Wikipedia again:

In the late 1970s, Wallace announced that he was a born-again Christian and apologized to black civil rights leaders for his past actions as a segregationist. He said that while he had once sought power and glory, he realized he needed to seek love and forgiveness. In 1979, Wallace said of his stand in the schoolhouse door: "I was wrong. Those days are over, and they ought to be over."

A story of redemption, I'd say.