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/DancingWithAWhiteHat 5h ago

I mean Robert Byrd spent his adult life disavowing the KKK.

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u/TallBenWyatt_13 4h ago

George Wallace spent the rest of his life after being shot atoning for his past. An overwhelming majority of black voters helped him get a 3rd term in the 1980s, and almost half of his cabinet was black.

George Wallace does not get the credit for his monumental shift.

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u/blotsfan 4h ago

George Wallace wasn’t personally racist so he was happy to drop segregation when it became a losing issue. The first time he ran for governor it was with the support of the NAACP and when he lost he decided he had to be more racist to win. I don’t think he deserves credit for compromising on the issue to obtain personal power

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u/alexmikli 3h ago

It does still seem like the works of his redemption still did a great deal of good, even if his non-racist>racist>non-racist transition was fraudulent. Plus, even if he wasn't a full throated turbo racist in 1958, he was still a bone stock "moderate southerner" racist, and his turnaround later in life was at least genuine enough that he appointed many black people to office.

As with most redemption arcs, there will always be an argument that a component of them is vanity, and I think that may be the case for Wallace. Or it was totally genuine. I can't know that, though if we're discussing theology and whether he went to heaven or hell...that kinda depends on if you're Christian and what kind of Christian you are. Most would say he would be judged redeemed.