Segregation and Comics: Together at Last

Via "d" at Lawyers, Guns, and Money check out this bizarre comic book put together by George Wallace during one of his campaigns to be governor of Alabama. It's fascinating how casually his steadfast white supremacy is wound into a general populist appeal that's all about job creation and the need to boost pensions.

Comments

Shouldn't be surprised. In '58 Wallace ran for governor strictly as a populist, trying to attract white (and to the extent it was possible) black votes. He even spoke out against the KKK who supported his opponent. Wallace lost and swore he'd take a hard-line segregationist stand from that point forward. Of course, he had a change of heart in later life and begged forgiveness. An interesting character. Sort of a one-man symbol of the post WWII South.

Posted by Jose Padilla | January 15, 2008 1:36 PM

Sounds like liberal fascism.

Posted by JG | January 15, 2008 1:36 PM

Lurleen for President '08!

Posted by Petey | January 15, 2008 1:37 PM

This was the old Democrat/Dixiecrat coalition in a nutshell.

Although the truly radical Southern populists, like Huey Long, were also seen as dangerously pro-Negro.

Posted by mq | January 15, 2008 1:40 PM

This was the old Democrat/Dixiecrat coalition in a nutshell.

Although the truly radical Southern populists, like Huey Long, were also seen as dangerously pro-Negro.

Posted by mq | January 15, 2008 1:41 PM

Wallace lost and swore he'd take a hard-line segregationist stand from that point forward.

As I recall, Wallace's actual oath was a bit more colorful than that.

I'm just fascinated by the fact that the "liquor agency racket" is important enough to be one of the top items on his agenda.

Posted by Gabriel | January 15, 2008 1:43 PM

Our republic faced armed rebellion over whisky taxes--what can you say, we like our booze

Posted by Jack | January 15, 2008 1:52 PM

What was the deal with the (apparently) state-level old age pensions? Anybody know? I thought SS has always been a federal program.

Posted by Jasper | January 15, 2008 1:53 PM

did you expect a candidate running on segregation and oppression to be subtle about it??

Posted by freaktown | January 15, 2008 1:56 PM

Interesting strip - I wonder if it was one of Krazy Khristian Klown Jack Chick's first comics.

Posted by MoeLarryAndJesus | January 15, 2008 1:57 PM

"head" is a transitive verb?

Posted by Matt B | January 15, 2008 1:58 PM

Jasper -- This was Wallace's style. In between the racial taunts he made extravagant campaign promises for pensions and other spending options that Alabama didn't have close to the resources to fund. Several observers, both inside and outside the state, noted that the federal government he railed against was the only entity that could have provided him the resources to put money into his programs. But every campaign, he promised these close-to-socialistic programs (while yelling about communism) while expecting money for it to come from Washington.

Of course, Wallace didn't give a damn about governing, anyway. Dan T. Carter's brilliant biography of Wallace has a telling anecdote: While a debate raged over issuing one of Alabama's largest bond issues, Wallace gazed out the window, eating a candy bar. More than most politicians, Wallace was consumed with winning elections, and bored by and ignorant of the process of governing.

Posted by Brian | January 15, 2008 2:07 PM

You know, at some point Jonah Goldberg is going to use this to argue that publicly paved roads & farmer's markets are simply segregationist plots...

Posted by anonymiss | January 15, 2008 2:19 PM

If I'm not mistaken, one of Wallace's aides once described his usual campaign strategy as "promise them the moon and holler n***er".

Posted by nodakdude | January 15, 2008 2:22 PM

What a fascinating little comic. I find it interesting that Wallace rails about getting the federal government out of Alabama, but the comic notes that in college he was the recipient of work under the NYA (National Youth Administration), a New Deal program. I guess not everything out of Washington was so bad.

Posted by Glenn | January 15, 2008 2:27 PM

Hey look, Petey's back.

Freak Edwards upset in South Carolina on its way, I'm guessing.

Posted by lemuel pitkin | January 15, 2008 2:40 PM

"Freak Edwards upset in South Carolina on its way, I'm guessing."

Good to know you're still optimistic about nominating a proud progressive this year, lemuel. I suppose that it was the polling out today showing Clinton and Obama both losing to McCain while Edwards beats McCain that has turned you.

But keep things in order. Nevada votes before South Carolina.

Posted by Petey | January 15, 2008 2:47 PM

-Dead Heat in Nevada!

On the topic of the post, I'd like to note that Matt's summary of the Wallace campaign - "how casually his steadfast white supremacy is wound into a general populist appeal that's all about job creation and the need to boost pensions" - is an excellent description of what Ross and Reihan are talking about in their push to draft Rudy Giuliani as a "Sam's Club" "Respect Conservative". While they talk about the importance of neoconservative government activism aimed to help the working class and strengthen families, they also highlight Giuliani's dalliances with racism:

An emblematic moment came in July 1999 when Giuliani, increasingly
unpopular over a series of police shootings, faced off on his call-in radio program against Margarita Rosario, the mother of a young man who had been shot and killed by two detectives four years earlier. Rather than accept Rosario's version of events, Giuliani challenged her at every turn, carefully recounting the details of her son's encounter with the police and his long rap sheet. At one point, he bluntly suggested the blame for her son's death might lie with her own poor parenting: "Maybe you should ask yourself some questions about the way he was brought up and the things that happened to him."

Giuliani fights to get police off the hook for a racially involved shooting of a young Hispanic man. Ross and Reihan see this as paradigmatic of the type of conservativism they want to re-inspire.

What they're talking about is a better-veiled version of Wallace-ism.

Posted by DivGuy | January 15, 2008 3:05 PM

I wonder what elements of Yglesias's political agenda, which obviously seems coherent and consistent to him, will seem wildly out of place and embarrassing to people in fifty years?

Posted by y81 | January 15, 2008 3:32 PM

I especially love how he saves for last the part about "heading" the outside agitators right back north. If it were a speech, this would be the applause line.

Posted by bobbo | January 15, 2008 4:55 PM

"Yglesias's political agenda, which obviously seems coherent and consistent to him,"

EVERYTHING seems obvious, coherent and consistent to him.

Ever seen him on Bloggingheads? Look at the three-way the other day. While Ambinder and Ross are sort of hesitant about making their opinions with certainty, EVERYTHING Matt says is expressed as being utterly obvious and totally true and only he knows it.

"Smug college senior", indeed.

Us old folks call this the "ignorance of youth". Which is not to say we didn't do it when we were Matt's age.

In fact, I still do it. I just do it better than Matt because I do try to have some facts and some logic to back it up with.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | January 15, 2008 8:46 PM