Donald Trump is no George Wallace.
I was a college student in Alabama while Wallace (followed by his wife Lurleen) was governor. I marched on the last day of the Selma to Montgomery march. In Birmingham, I was knocked down by Bull Connor's fire hoses and bitten by his police dogs more than once. Wallace was the enemy. To this day I am no fan of George Wallace.
Now that the White House is occupied by a mean, ignorant, hate-filled, small-minded fool who has no soul, it has become all the rage to compare Trump to Wallace.
Donald Trump is no George Wallace.
I worked my way through college doing construction work during the summers and other breaks. Some of my construction worker colleagues were Klansmen -- they were proud of the fact and did not try to hide it.
One particular incident sticks in my mind.
After the 16th Street Church bombing, Wallace condemned violence. One of my Klansmen co-workers explained it this way: "Ol' George is governor. He has to say what he did. He can't take care of the n####rs the way we can, so, we do it (bombed the church) to help George." I'm reminded of this conversation every time Trump raves about immigrants and an "invasion".
On the other hand, three incidents from Wallace's life and career separate him from Trump.
ONE. In the early 1950's Wallace was a circuit court judge in southern Alabama. One of the powerful unwritten rules of Southern society was that a white person never, ever, for any reason referred to a black person as "Mister," "Mrs.," "Miss," or any other honorific. Blacks were called by their first name or "Boy" or "girl" -- "Uncle" or "Aunt" if they had grey hair. It was common practice for judges in the area to refer to black lawyers by their first names, while white lawyers were addressed as "Mister"; Black lawyer J. L. Chestunut later said "Judge George Wallace was the most liberal judge that I had ever practiced law in front of. He was the first judge in Alabama to call me 'Mister' in a courtroom."
TWO. In 1958 Wallace ran for the Democratic nomination as Alabama's governor (corrected from original diary); his main opponent was Attorney General John Patterson, who was endorsed by the Klan. Wallace was endorsed by the NAACP. Wallace ran on a platform of roads and schools. Patterson ran on a segregationist platform and beat Wallace by a huge margin. One of Wallace's campaign advisors later quoted Wallace as saying: "I got up and talked about roads and schools and they sat on their hands. Patterson got up and yelled 'N####er!! N####er!! and they stomped on the floor! . . . I was outn####red by John Patterson. And I'll tell you here and now, I will never be outn####red again." And we all know the rest.
THREE. During his presidential campaign of 1972, Wallace was shot in an assassination attempt. He spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair, in constant pain, wearing a colostomy bag, unable to care for himself, racked by recurring infections.
In 1995, on the 30th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery march, Wallace -- too weak to speak, almost deaf -- slumped in his wheelchair as an aide read his speech to the marchers who, three decades earlier, had been attacked by Wallace's state troopers. Wallace's speech to them was an apology and a plea for forgiveness.
"My friends, I have been watching your progress this week as you retrace your footsteps of 30 years ago and cannot help but reflect on those days that remain so vivid in my memory. Those were different days and we all in our own ways were different people. We have learned hard and important lessons in the 30 years that have passed between us since the days surrounding your first walk along Highway 80."
"Those days were filled with passionate convictions and a magnified sense of purpose that imposed a feeling on us all that events of the day were bigger than any one individual. Much has transpired since those days. A great deal has been lost and a great deal has been gained, and here we are. My message to you today is, 'Welcome to Montgomery.' "
"May your message be heard. May your lessons never be forgotten. May our history be always remembered."
Some in the crowd weren't buying it, believing instead that Wallace was trying desperately to get right with God before he died.
Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and an organizer of the March 7, 1965, march felt differently: "Thank you for coming out of your sickness to meet us. You are a different George Wallace today. We both serve a God who can make the desert bloom. We ask God's blessing on you."
Three years before he died, George Wallace apologized to the people he had attacked, people whom he had encouraged the Klan to murder.
Donald Trump will never apologize to the people he has murdered and belittled. Never. He is too small-minded, too mean, there is too much evil in his heart, he has no soul. And that, folks, is the difference.