Alabama university removes Wallace name from building Feb. 8, 2021 Updated: Feb. 8, 2021 10:02 a.m.

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Alabama university removes Wallace name from building
Feb. 8, 2021
Updated: Feb. 8, 2021 10:02 a.m.



FILE - In this June 11, 1963 file photo, Gov. George Wallace blocks the entrance to the University of Alabama as he turned back a federal officer attempting to enroll two black students at the university campus in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The University of Alabama at Birmingham has removed the name of four-term governor and presidential candidate George C. Wallace from a campus building over his support of racial segregation. A resolution unanimously approved by trustees Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, said Wallace rose to power by defending racial separation and stoking racial animosity.File/AP

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The University of Alabama at Birmingham has removed the name of four-term governor and presidential candidate George C. Wallace from a campus building over his support of racial segregation.

A resolution unanimously approved by trustees Friday said Wallace rose to power by defending racial separation and stoking racial animosity. While noting Wallace’s eventual renouncement of racist policies, the resolution said his name remains a symbol of racial injustice for many.

A UAB building that was named after Wallace in 1975 will now be called simply the Physical Education Building. Removing Wallace’s name from the structure “is simply the right things to do,” trustee John England Jr. said in a statement.

Wallace vowed “segregation forever” at his 1963 inaugural and was paralyzed in an assassination attempt while running for president in 1972. He has a “complex legacy” that includes his apology to the late Rep. John Lewis, who was beaten by Alabama state troopers while trying to march for voting rights in Selma, England said.




Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/article/George-Wallace-s-name-to-be-removed-from-campus-15933052.php

[ret5hd]

1. A rather poetic explanation of Wallace's "complex legacy":

the last few lines:

Bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd attempted to show another side of the South, one that certainly exists, but few saw beyond the rebel flag. And this applies not only to their critics and detractors, but also their fans and followers. So for a while, when Neil Young would come to town, he'd get death threats down in Alabama. Ironically, in 1971, after a particularly racially charged campaign, Wallace began backpedaling, and he opened up Alabama politics to minorities at a rate faster than most northern states or the federal government. Wallace spent the rest of his life trying to explain away his racist past, and in 1982, he won his last term in office with over 90% of the black vote, such is the duality of the Southern Thing

...and George Wallace died back in '98 and he's in Hell now, not because he's a racist. His track record as a judge and his late life quest for redemption make a good argument for his being, at worst, no worse than most white men of his generation, North or South. But because of his blind ambition and his hunger for votes, he turned a blind eye to the suffering of black America and he became a pawn in the fight against the Civil Rights cause

...fortunately for him, the Devil is also a Southerner. So, this song’s going to take place in Hell, told from the Devil’s point of view, as he does what any good Southerner would do when company’s coming: He brewed up some good sweet tea, and whups up some Southern hospitality for the arrival of the new guest

[Nitram]

2. Yes!

[Polybius]

3. Even though he repented?

He was much better in his final terms, and won with the support of African Americans.

Yet Strom Thurmond's name is still all over South Carolina.