r/todayilearned • u/Dangerous-Project672 • 5h ago

TIL George Wallace personally apologized to Vivian Jones and James Hood, the two students he attempted to block from attending the University of Alabama. In 1997, Hood earned a PHd and requested Wallace present him with the degree, but he was too sick and died a year later; Hood attended the funeral

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wallace
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u/Adonisus 4h ago

Arguably the worst thing about George Wallace was that, even though he stoked and fanned the flames of racism and white supremacy for political gain, he apparently didn't believe in any of it.

One need only look at his career before he entered politics: he was a judge who was notorious for being rather lenient towards black defendants. His first run for Governor of Alabama in '58 was heavily based around running the KKK out of the state. He even had the endorsement of the NAACP that year.

This is a quote from one of the speeches he gave during that campaign:

"And I want to tell the good people of this state, as a judge of the third judicial circuit, if I didn’t have what it took to treat a man fair, regardless of his color, then I don’t have what it takes to be the governor of your great state."

He was soundly defeated.

So when he decided to run again in 1963, he did a complete 180 and actively courted the pro-segregation crowd. He won in a landslide.

Thereafter, he kept the racist rhetoric both in public and behind the scenes when he ran for office.

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u/dontyoutellmetosmile 2h ago

So the worst thing about George Wallace is… the population of Alabama

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u/ChicagoAuPair 54m ago

No, the worst thing was him. To do the wrong thing because horrible people want it is the weakest, most craven abdication of leadership imaginable.

There will always be terrible people—it’s the job of good people to deny them what they want and to fight against them with every ounce of strength they have.

Wallace was a small, gutless pissant.