POLITICIANS SWITCHING SIDES - FROM RACIAL MODERATE TO RACIST Before that January day, Wallace had not been a rabid segregationist; indeed, by southern standards, Wallace had been a racial moderate... When Wallace initially ran for governor in 1958, the NAACP endorsed him; his opponent had the blessing of the Ku Klux Klan The moderate Wallace lost in his first campaign for governor. Years later, the victor would reconstruct the campaign, distilling a simple lesson: the primary reason I beat [Wallace] was because he was considered soft on the race question at the time. Four years later, Wallace ran as a racial reactionary, openly courting the support of the Klan and fiercely committing himself to the defense of segregation. Wallace would later recall, you know, I started off talking about schools and highways and prisons and taxes - and I couldnt make them listen. Then I began talking about n----rs - and they stomped the floor. - From the book Dog Whistle Politics by Ian Haney Lopez
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 14:42:28 +0000
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