Travis Bickle killed George Wallace

September 1, 2007 4:33 PM

Patterson had run with the support of the Klu Klux Klan an organization Wallace had spoken against, while Wallace had been endorsed by the NAACP.After the election, aide Seymore Trammell recalled Wallace saying, "Seymore, you know why I lost that governor's race?... I was outniggered by John Patterson. And I'll tell you here and now, I will never be outniggered again." “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.”
posted by Huplescat (24 comments total)

George Wallace. George Corley Wallace. Not William. Is the point of this FPP that Arthur Bremer is scheduled for release later this year?

There's a good FPP to be made about Wallace, Patterson, and Bremer. This is not it.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 4:47 PM on September 1, 2007

Cool comic. But I'm really confused as to the point of this post...
posted by PostIronyIsNotaMyth at 4:48 PM on September 1, 2007

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Wallace one of the few people from that terrible era who has actually publicly apologized for his actions back then? That actually is intersting.

Also, Jim Goad wrote an insightful and funny joint review of bios of George Wallace and Elijah Muhammad.
posted by jonmc at 5:45 PM on September 1, 2007 [2 favorites]

BitterOldPunk's link should definitely be in the FPP.
posted by delmoi at 5:46 PM on September 1, 2007

My RSS reader cached the initial title, and I had a lot of fun trying to figure out what William Wallace had to do with it all.
posted by sidereal at 5:51 PM on September 1, 2007

aide Seymore Trammell recalled Wallace saying, "Seymore, you know why I lost that governor's race?... I was outniggered by John Patterson. And I'll tell you here and now, I will never be outniggered again."

I gotta tell you... this may very well be true - and even if it's not, there's no question that Wallace went out of his way to court the black vote in the 70s and 80s - but I knew Seymore Trammell and I'm not sure that man ever told the truth for more than four minutes at a time and even then I'm sure it was under duress.

After he got out of prison (something to do with his position as state treasurer; legend has it they wanted Wallace and settled for Trammel), he got involved in various scams, including running this sleazy little auto auction. They had the crappiest cars imaginable. I was there one night and, at one point, Seymore and his son (also quite a con artist) were pulling this decrepit old Cadillac into the auction bay. The thing died right there on the spot. He turned to the crowd (I say "crowd" but it was maybe twenty people) and said "It just needs some gas, folks!" Everyone cracked up laughing. Needless to say, the car didn't sell.

Sure, lots of people in politics lie whenever it's convenient. Trammel lied all the time. And for what it's worth, that Wallace quote is disputed, according to page 122 of this book.

Trammell's son took after him. I can't find anything on line to corroborate this story, but I've got no reason to doubt my sources. In 1976, the federal government handed out money to cities around the country so they could each put on a Bicentennial celebration. Trammell got someone in the state government to put his son (Seymore Jr., or Sandy, as he was called) in charge of the committee responsible for planning the celebration and, more importantly, spending the money. Well, the committee held meetings and issued press releases and what not, but when the fourth of July rolled around, there was no event and the money had all mysteriously disappeared.
posted by Clay201 at 6:02 PM on September 1, 2007 [4 favorites]

Ku Klux Klan - l
posted by NailsTheCat at 6:05 PM on September 1, 2007

Great link, jonmc, I hadn't read that.

To wit:

Both Wallace and Muhammad appealed to the hopes and resentments of groups which mainstream pundits would prefer to ignore. Both seemed to actually care about their constituencies. Both were Southern boys who weathered the Great Depression. Both said that racism was not exclusively, or even predominantly, a Southern problem. Both of them benefited from being stricken with Messiah complexes. Both were on mystical quests to avenge wrongs committed against their "people." Both were trying to redeem a slice of lost history. Both pinched pennies and stressed self-reliance. Both were audited by the IRS. Both hated and mistrusted white liberals. Both believed that communism was a plot to destroy white civilization. Both played on class tensions within their respective races. Both had a gift for sardonically rubbing others' noses in shit. Both were married to longsuffering doormat wives who withstood inattentive philandering for decades. And both Wallace and Muhammad would think I'm a degenerate lunatic.

They had a lot in common.

posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:50 PM on September 1, 2007

amazingly, Wallace repented and won the governorship again in later years on the back of the black vote.
posted by Ironmouth at 11:04 PM on September 1, 2007

Like NailsTheCat said - Ku Klux Klan. About as annoying as when someone puts a swastika on a wall in a toilet stall - backwards. I understand it's a dumbass mentality to begin with, but really, c'mon.
I support Greenpeas! Save the wails!
posted by hypersloth at 11:39 PM on September 1, 2007

It's a horrible thing to be pedantic about, but I'm stuck with nailsthecat and hypersloth. Worse when I hear someone say it.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 12:24 AM on September 2, 2007

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.
posted by Roman Graves at 2:30 AM on September 2, 2007

So did they produce their political propaganda in comics because the segregationist retards of Alabama couldn't do much more than look at the pictures?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 3:04 AM on September 2, 2007

PeterMcermott;

You do realize, don't you, that you're talking about my mother?

Racism does not equate to stupidity. T.S. Eliot was a flaming racist. It does, however, correlate remarkably well with evil.
posted by Clay201 at 3:14 AM on September 2, 2007

Wait. Are you saying your mother is not stupid, she's evil? I can just hear your mother. "Oh, thank you, dear, but I think I can defend myself here. You run along."
posted by pracowity at 5:14 AM on September 2, 2007

pracowity:

Well, partially evil, at least. She supports the occupation of Iraq whole heartedly and she worked on one of Wallace's presidential campaigns. Of course, she's still my mother and I'm rather fond of her.

One of my best friends is a war criminal. I think he's a good guy but the families of the people he killed might disagree. I figure it this way: we're all capable of some pretty awful stuff. Some of us just have more opportunities to realize this potential than others. So if I'm looking around for non-evil people with whom to associate, I'm wasting my time.
posted by Clay201 at 6:07 AM on September 2, 2007

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Wallace one of the few people from that terrible era who has actually publicly apologized for his actions back then?

No. you're not wrong. Wallace made a major turnaround. Something he should've gotten a little more credit for: he abandoned his racist ways and in so doing actually received the endorsement (human, I think, not necessarily political) of the reverend Jesse Jackson.

There's a good FPP to be made about Wallace, Patterson, and Bremer. This is not it.

Seconded. The comic is a great find, and I'm really happy you posted it, Huplescat, but this is a pretty scattered post: a Wiki page and an article on Wallace's would-be assassin? I really don't get the point. I say don't be afraid to make a single-link post if that's all you've got and it's a good link!

Thanks again for the comic, though, Huplescat.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:08 AM on September 2, 2007

The comic is a great find, and I'm really happy you posted it, Huplescat, but this is a pretty scattered post: a Wiki page and an article on Wallace's would-be assassin? I really don't get the point. I say don't be afraid to make a single-link post if that's all you've got and it's a good link!

Exactly. But the comic is great, and I forgive the scattered and careless post for its sake. What's really funny is that I started reading it without paying attention to the explanation at the top (the gray-on-black is so washed-out I'm not even sure I noticed it), and I just assumed it was a modern comic artist's attempt to recreate a period style and force us to see how Alabamians saw Wallace at the time, and I thought "Wow, this is really well done—this guy has it down cold! But it's so deadpan I'm afraid it's actually going to offend people." Then I noticed the explanation: "GEORGE WALLACE FOR THE BIG JOB (1960/1961) - Long Lost Alabama Anti-NAACP Gubernatorial Campaign Booklet." I was thrilled at the historical artifact, but also a little disappointed. I was really impressed with my imaginary artist.
posted by languagehat at 6:32 AM on September 2, 2007

*waves at Roman Graves while wearing his Drive-By Truckers t-shirt*
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:43 AM on September 2, 2007

Clay201: One of my best friends is a war criminal. I think he's a good guy but the families of the people he killed might disagree.

Ummm... This blew my mind, I can't believe no one else has said anything, and I'm not judging you as a person mind you, but if you have a friend who's a war criminal, you might want to let the Hague know, cause those people who might disagree with you about your friend probably want some... you know... justice.

Seriously.
posted by PostIronyIsNotaMyth at 12:51 PM on September 2, 2007

PostIronyIsNotaMyth:

I'm pretty sure the Hague knows all about Viet Nam. And in any case, US citizens just don't get held responsible for their war crimes. We don't see Dubya standing before a tribunal right now, do we? It's not as if he's hiding out in Argentina. The only US citizen they've ever nailed, as far as I know, is Henry Kissinger and obviously that didn't do much good.

Also, if they're going to prosecute anyone for the crimes committed in Viet Nam, they should go after Mcnamara or one of those guys first.
posted by Clay201 at 1:15 PM on September 2, 2007

He didn't say his friend was a Nazi in hiding, he said he was a war criminal. That could apply to any number of US Marines these days. I don't think the Hague is too interested, or would get their hands on, any of them. Nor do I think anyone wants to turn their friend in for some fucked up shit they did in Fallujah.
posted by Roman Graves at 1:21 PM on September 2, 2007

I was close enough.
posted by Roman Graves at 1:24 PM on September 2, 2007

Fair enough.
posted by PostIronyIsNotaMyth at 3:42 PM on September 2, 2007