History, again

George Wallace - 1960s

Maybe we need a history refresher course. The Democratic Party of today is the result of the splintering off of those "southern democrats" and "dixiecrats" who moved to the "Republican" party late 1940s into the 1950s-1960s -- the civil rights movement and the Johnson administration. Have you heard of Strom Thurmond? After a southern Democrat (Truman) "introduced a pro-civil rights platform at the party’s 1948 convention, a faction walked out. These defectors, known as the 'Dixiecrats', held a separate convention in Birmingham, Alabama. There, they nominated South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond, a staunch opposer [sic] of civil rights, to run for president on their 'States Rights' ticket." How about George Wallace? He refused to join the Republicans -- to him in 1948, they weren't quite segregationist enough. There are dozens of articles about the "switching" of party platforms when in fact it was the exodus of southern Democrats to the Republican party which drove that group even further right, so remaining Democratic Party members could be more supportive of civil rights and social justice. George Wallace epitomized the stance of the Republican party as governor (even though he remained a 'Democrat'). In his 1964 presidential bid he changed his "public message" from strictly about race ("segregation forever") to concerns about the rise of an "all-powerful central government". During his wife's term as governor (he was not allowed to serve 2 consecutive terms) in 1966, he advocated for "law and order". Do these buzz words sound familiar to you? 

CSA Official Flag

On the similarities to the current White House occupant, “The two of them, they have adopted the notion that fear and hate are the two greatest motivators of voters,” [George] Wallace’s daughter, Peggy Wallace Kennedy, told Buzzfeed. “Those voters that feel alienated from the government. Those voters tend to make decisions based on an emotional level rather than intellectual.” Wallace added, “They both understood, my father and Donald Trump, that low-information voters, they tend to feed off of the threats to their livelihood and safety without really considering what that threat really is, or even if it’s real.” It is 2020 and we still had a state flag with a representation of the Confederate battle flag until very recently. We have statues on public land, maintained with public money, dedicated to people who should have been tried and convicted of treason. Most of these statues were not erected until 1920 or so -- not in the 1860s or 1870s. They were erected during the period known as Jim Crow. The KKK became more popular about the same time. 

If your ancestor's only claim to fame is that he fought to destroy the United States of America, fighting and killing American soldiers under the confederate battle flag, why are you 'proud' of that? Why are you waving the battle flag instead of the CSA flag? The battle flag didn't really become 'a thing' until the civil rights movements in the 1950s and 1960s. If your name caries a III or IV or V, in a series of first sons named after a confederate general, you don't need to change your name; you had no say in naming yourself. You can however, become educated and change your views away from your ancestors' racist views. Isn't that a better heritage to leave for your children?

Note: Wallace summary partly from http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1676