George C. Wallace for the Big Job: What “State’s Rights” really means
This is the first page from a comic commissioned by George C. Wallace’s 1960 campaign for Governor of Alabama.
The first thing he touts in official campaign materials wasn’t pensions, or roads, or education (well, kinda), or his economic plan. No, it was standing up to the federal government to protect Alabama’s right to be racist. This is what “State’s Rights” means:
In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.
It shows the extent to which people will change to win elections.
I checked out the wikipedia entry- and it turns out there’s a lot more to the story that I didn’t know.
I guess he lost the race for governor in ‘58 because he couldn’t get the white vote. He had the endorsement of the NAACP and his opponent got the vital KKK endorsement.
So in ‘62 he turned around and “adopted a hard-line segregationist style” - which I assume included the publication of this comic.
It’s sad, really.
But kind of reminds me of Romney- who seems to be willing to do or say almost anything to be elected.