Was Lester Maddox the South's Most Racist Governor?

After Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Georgia protested desegregation by electing Lester Maddox as governor. Maddox, a staunch supporter of racial segregation, resisted integration in the state as much as possible. Despite his support for segregation, he appointed more African Americans to government positions than all previous Georgia governors combined, including the first black officer in the Georgia State Patrol and the first black official to the state Board of Corrections.
So, was Lester Maddox Georgia's most racist governor?
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[@jpetty2935]

Wow!!! I just watched a show with this guy and Jim Brown and he was acting like he wanted equality for all and now I see this..smh

[@redlightspellsdanger7177]

Me too! Just watched it and he stormed off the show!

[@TheNYgolfer]

@CaliforniaCheez - Lol....another brainwashed individual who believes in fairy tales for which there is not the slightest evidence. Takes a basic understanding of evolution to comprehend how stone age your beliefs are. You also believe that our planet is 6000 years old and we rode dinosaurs like horses because you read it in Hebrew in your 'Interlinear Bible". Oh yeah, and of course YOUR god is the ONLY god even though the first commandment says "thou shalt have no other Gods before me" . Gods is plural. So even your god acknowledges there are other "Gods" and that he is a jealous prick..

[@sorenaliabadi2787]

CaliforniaCheez I hope one day you realize your wrong ways and you stop using your religion to put other people down. You can believe in whatever religion you choose but when you use it to segregate or label others, you’ve basically shown your true colours. I’m not religious but I can respect those who believe in one. I suggest you start respecting people of all kinds as well.

[@bso1469]

@CaliforniaCheez damn, actually nobody cares tho

[@lucaspatrick542]

He only talked in circles because he was governor. He was stroking the cat while kicking the dog and screaming “separate but equal”. A scary guy. Glad we have less every generation.

[@RayfieldA]

Lester Maddox storms off the Dick Cavett show is what brought me here. Seeing how he acted towards desegregation makes me wonder why he made such a scene on Mr. Cavett's show.

[@rushpittsburgh4]

@broomsterm he wasn't insulted at first, that came at the very end after Maddox interrupted everyone who he disagreed with. He acts like its his world and everyone has to think the way he does. He was obnoxious in that interview and Jim Brown and Dick got sick of him and decided to mess with him. Who cares if they mess with some racist anyway....

[@AhJodie]

These must be all tied together because same thing happened to me, naturally I am curious though so I looked.

[@Rhythmicons]

Because even then it was worse to be CALLED a bigot than it is to BE one.

[@mrlaw711]

Exactly. He was a goon.

[@hallerd]

@Tommy Vercetti google the term southern strategy

[@storysource889]

There were quite a few governors up for the 'Most Racist" award. Ole Lester had plenty of competition.

[@TimBoyd2012]

Theodore Bilbo (Mississippi) was probably #1 Of course, George Wallace is the first that comes to mind for most people. He eventually recanted, and renounced his former views, though he was still very conservative. Wallace, Maddox, Thurmond, and Faubus are the most well-known, but Bilbo was likely the most racist.

[@brendanjobe6895]

Ross Barnett never changed his views on states' rights and segregation. I had lunch with him twice in the early 1980's, and he was hilarious. Of course, most whites in Mississippi really haven't changed their views. They simply comply on the surface with questionable Supreme Court rulings.

[@seanbrummfield448]

I know Ross Barnett was one.

[@BigfistJP]

@@seanbrummfield448 Orval Faubus should not be left out. Certainly in the top 5.

[@seanbrummfield448]

@@BigfistJP Definitely. And George Wallace. Even though, he tried to run for Dixiecrat.

[@user-ellievator]

I came for the history, read the comments, and stayed for the nuts. ''Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.'' Mark Twain.

[@mikegee8875]

Lester was the typical racist DEMOCRAT

[@nitwitt50]

I love quotes from Mark Twain❤

[@Obey-id8sq]

So nobody should argue with you then

[@FlyyKaRizZmA]

Overused comment

[@user-ellievator]

@@FlyyKaRizZmA I won't argue with you.

[@reality8481]

My dad always saw Maddox's face on the army ranges when he went for rifle practice.He always got 100%.

[@FlipNasty1]

Was your father a Black or White

[@niccolorichter1488]

Where IS answer?

[@KrissowskiM]

You made up the story or the fact that you knew your father?

[@Str8_305]

😂😂😂😂

[@paleo704]

Your dad sounds like a psycho

[@qgill778]

I would PAY to see him walk through Atlanta today 🤣🤣🤣

[@dickiestanley6583]

I bet it was a lot safer back then than now to walk thru Atlanta

[@jessedaughtry4433]

@@dickiestanley6583 yeah just like Detroit, Chicago, Jackson, Baltimore. What do they all seem to have in common?

[@lakersfansince1991]

@@jessedaughtry4433 I can think of 2 things. Blacks and democrats.

[@kebablevy3187]

@@lakersfansince1991 And you watch the lakers?

[@kebablevy3187]

@@jessedaughtry4433 I guess al Capone and the mob never existed

[@mauriceperez1479]

The Banjo playing in the background makes Maddox sound even more Southern

[@Brad4Ellis]

Agreed. Maddox was an URBAN racist, not a hillbilly. Bad music choice.

[@codyt821]

Not every southerner is a racist, born and raised in the south and I never could stand this man or what he stood for.

[@jaycee598]

@@codyt821 saying the south is racist ≠ saying all southerners are racist

[@westhoodqualzini7884]

@@codyt821 yeah because you weren’t born before 1960s. Your taught multiculturalism and homosexuality in school so of course that’s what your going to parrot

[@kdm187]

@@westhoodqualzini7884 just because you are born in the 60s or before that does not mean anything.

[@samizdatbroadcasts7654]

"If Lester Maddox lives, something far better has died" - Hunter S. Thompson

[@neveroffended45]

Did he really say that?

[@momonie4]

@@neveroffended45 Yes he did.

[@JungleJim737]

Nobody cares about a druggies opinion

[@jonc8074]

@@JungleJim737 eh if a druggy writes a bunch of bestsellers, Playboy articles and both Bill Murray and Johnny Depp play that druggy in some movies people will pay attention

[@JungleJim737]

@@jonc8074 don’t care

[@LastCommodore]

I wonder what Carter thought of Maddox years later.

[@marymargaretblumhorst5359]

I would love to know this also. Surely there were public remarks made that have been in print for a few decades. Am going to research till I find them!

[@brendanjobe6895]

Helmut Schmidt ranked the US presidents with whom he had worked as chancellor of West Germany. He ranked Carter at the bottom, for obvious reasons.

[@Sameoldfitup]

"We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell." Oscar Wilde.

[@mrlaw711]

And, "Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious."

[@sonysoldier9587]

Thank goodness I wasn't around during this time. It has to be rough and scary at the same time...

[@brendanjobe6895]

It was a time when a person could KNOW he wasn't wanted at a certain place, but because their ketchup or napkins had crossed state lines, he had to be served. Here, they would come in, order a hamburger, get one with about a quarter's size of meat, and sit there for two hours looking at a newspaper - just to see if anyone would ask them to leave.

[@Kay-ng1qo]

Why fight to eat where you are not wanted, who wants spit in their food?

[@lucaspatrick542]

“Y’all can’t bring excessive melanin amounts into my establishment!”

[@MarmaladeSally]

I’d like to know the context of Lester “running them out” with an axe handle. The fact that he appointed black people into his cabinet and boards across the state doesn’t correlate with him “running them out”.

[@mollkatless]

So, are you the only person on the planet who thinks there is some question to whether or not Maddox is a racist? You posted that a month ago, there are mountain of history on this, did you put in any effort at all to find out the truth?

[@dangerusscurvs4709]

If Lester could see Georgia now..

[@pastorrickstevenson5325]

Yep. Atlanta is one of America’s dangerous cities thanks to welfare and desegregation.

[@TheStompboxer]

Pastor Rick Stevenson You must be one of those racist democrats people keep babbling about, aren’t you?

[@tilabryant2948]

Pastor Rick Stevenson and the white ppl are steady getting there daughters pregnant 🤦🏽‍♀️

[@mrtruckingtaurus3940]

There will come a day that you will stand before the almighty creator and give an account for what YOU have done in this life. Just as Lester have done. Be careful how we treat people!!!

[@geraldjohnson3216]

I hate to be him when judgement comes the most high is goin to pull his resume and what a day what a day i dont want to be him no matter how much money he has.

[@lakewoodil]

I was living in Atlanta when all this was going on. It was a big deal and old Lester sold those ax handles in his restaurant.. As much as I did and still do love the city, he was a black eye on the city and state.

[@nelsonporter8387]

You can add George Wallace to this list

[@MelanatednNature]

😂😂😂 I just said that then I see this comment gold

[@georgewallace7354]

Ya what you need?

[@verawallace9055]

In the end the Race Wallace despised so much, became his Caregivers

[@forrealdickey9232]

It makes absolutely no sense to want to eat in a restaurant where you are not wanted.What do you think the cooks are gonna cook up for you.Devil stew for sure.

[@TheOthello175]

The heart of the matter is that it was never about food it was about inclusion. Wouldn't you think that they weren't ever going to actually eat anything, mind you they'd order things from the menu but they'd never eat it!

[@forrealdickey9232]

During that time we did not need to eat at white peoples restaurants for what we had our own.I feel the same way today if I go to a restaurant today and feel not wanted then I wont go there any more.There are some things we can talk about as far as inclusion because it is necessary.

[@TheOthello175]

@@forrealdickey9232 again, it wasn't about eating!!! Where have you been???

[@sign543]

chris dickey - Wasn’t it more about changing the culture...focusing on the food seems to miss the point. The demonstrations and the rallies and the campaigns were to change the culture and to bring attention to the issue. Of course I do not want to go anywhere...where I’m not wanted...but if they are systematically excluding a certain demographic on racist, sexist, xenophobic, sexual orientation or any other demographic principle...then it seems necessary to then protest that, force the business to address the issue, answer to the public, answer to the constitutionality of that act. It seems we have a moral and social obligation to act in the face of such egregious discrimination. When people stay silent, that’s when it flourishes IMO.

[@SocialistFinn1]

calling white people devils will not help at all. You can't fight racism with racism.

[@netozamora252]

This was not long ago...mind blowing!

[@allisonroberts1379]

Sadly, djt is stoking the flames of racial unrest. BLM are thugs but his supporters who cost 5 people there lives were “patriots.”🤔

[@charleswilliams8248]

@@allisonroberts1379 If you do a deep study of America 🇺🇸, this is a thug Nation! The land is stolen, is that not thug?

[@Cre80s]

Exactly. Really, all of American history is like yesterday in terms of how it affects today. Anytime you hear someone pshing something off as "oh, that was ages ago" is just trying to suppress an inconvenient truth they don't wanna deal with.

[@timothymatthews6458]

@@Cre80s Why does it matter that it was not long ago? Still doesn't justify reparations or whatever crap you leftists push. Cope.

[@jtr789310]

What not said is Maddox appointed more blacks to government positions than did all past Georgia governor combined. Maddox integrated the Georgia State Patrol as governor. Maddox integrated the lines of farmer's markets throughout the state GA, and urged state troopers to address blacks as Mr. or Mrs. instead of derogatory terms like "N word. Maddox did change or say did a lot for blacks as governor than most expected and more than Jimmy Carter ever did.

[@michaelgray1803]

So he was a good guy

[@bassanglerxxx8444]

Not facts no more than all the so-claimed records president#45 claims he has set and false history he has claimed to have made, when the only record he has set is becoming the only president of the electoral college of the United States of America only,not by voters of the United States of America

[@avrammartinez9231]

Ive heard him speak, to my surprise id have to agree on certain things he says...watch the interview with jim brown &trickydicky

[@bassanglerxxx8444]

@edthehead916 meaning he isn't a president elected by the people but by Russians

[@bassanglerxxx8444]

@edthehead916 Republican candidates always loose popular votes🤔 But he at war with that tax return shit though 😂🤣😂😂 he is a liar liar his face on fire,if they're released his ass is one term history!!!

[@leecoddens2412]

Yeah, Maddox appointed Black Overseers, so therefore he wasn't a Racist Got it. I see you.

[@nrcg2317]

Don't count on it.

[@bassanglerxxx8444]

Vote raining purposes only

[@diranshouse7061]

It's quite possible Maddox was a racist con trying to pull a fast one by hiring all those black people. It's just as likely that the liberal media and it's useful idiots are the con artist trying to pull a fast one by claiming a guy who hired the most black folks is the real black folks hater. I mean it should not go unnoticed here that the argument we are supposed to believe is thus: White guy hires no black people... Racist! White guy hires the most black people... Racists trying to coverup! Notice how there is no evidence that disproves the original claim of 'racist.' A claim that evidence can't disprove is no claim at all. Just belief. Unfortunately I don't do fairy tales.

[@SuperTryhardSniper]

dez Jours - Not a trump supporter, but in what way is he a racist? Obviously you can see the clear examples here of Lester Maddox with his segregationist stance, treatment of African Americans, and especially after his dialogue with Jim Brown. How do you draw the equivalencies between Trump and this man?

[@peekay5518]

The guy could never change, I reckon I could open him up within half a dozen questions, he was riddled with racist cancer, twisted, thank god he and his kind are dead, never lose this record, Hitlers mate in HELL

[@jordachejordan90]

A lot of information I never knew as a Georgian.

[@truth4078]

I'm just wondering what he's sayin' to the devil

[@GrayGamer889]

Every man is offered a chance of redemption and grace from the Lord Whether or not he truly chose to only be and God knows

[@GrayGamer889]

@dez Jours i pray you both understand using God's name for vanity does a disservice to you both and lends no credibility to either of you it makes you look mean

[@68Dye]

Aren't there numerous colleges that are having black only and Hispanic only student areas as well as college graduations.Are these considered racist?

[@bobfaam5215]

But Wites started the concept of segregation first . Others followed them

[@donparks2857]

Black colleges started because wasn't allowed to the white Devil college

[@trevormillar2755]

Which Lt Governor described his job as "a $50,000 a year hatrack"?

[@NkrumahTure]

No black person in their right mind should've eaten in Lester Maddox's cafe. So his employees can spit in the food? I don't think so, he wouldn't have gotten a dime of my money. If anything, some Molotov cocktails should have been thrown at it to burn it to a crisp.

[@mtrich8113]

That's what I'm saying, they could have done or put anything to that food. The overall it was about challenging the Authority.

[@Untilhecomes85]

The employees were black

[@johningram1920]

His employes were Black. Maddox wanted Black business to thrive in the Black community. Now there are very few Black-owned businesses.

[@conservativethought1460]

Your still being hoodwinked by the same democrats today. Only their M.O. has changed.

[@curtisalleyne3710]

Exactly open your own food shop why would you wanna give money to a white Racist anyway? thats how a house slave would think

*1) "Maddox came to prominence as a staunch segregationist when he refused to serve black customers in his Atlanta restaurant, in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964". 2) "His last public speech was in Atlanta in 2001 at the annual national conference of the Council of Conservative Citizens. The CCC, of which Maddox was a charter member, is considered by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League to be a white supremacist group." From Wikipedia.*

[@cult_of_odin]

The Civil rights act of 1964 is totally and wholly unconstitutional. He has the right to REFUSE SERVICE for any reason he may see fit.

[@atiphwyne5609]

@@cult_of_odin You know nothing about your Constitution and of course the right to refuse service is a cover for your racism. So don't lecture any one on this forum because you simply don't know the law. But of course that doesn't even come into the equation.

[@2bobaf]

Maddox appointed more blacks to government positions than did all past Georgia governors combined. Don't cherry pick.

[@atiphwyne5609]

@@2bobaf A classic example of cherry picking! Just because a number of black people were appointed by him in his administration does not render the man's stated and concerted efforts to preserve jim crow. Anybody who has this in his mindset is a very deluded individual who is attempting to assert themselves by identification with their tribe to the extent they wish to reject and exclude all others on the paltry grounds of what colour their skin is. Pathetic.

[@KrissowskiM]

@@atiphwyne5609 pathetic racists you all are. Your hate towards white people who want nothing to do with you is staggering

[@brianmessitte8462]

George Wallace was worse.

[@MelanatednNature]

Indeed

[@wildonstokes3062]

So

[@rickflose]

Oh, he won as a democrat.. ...only around 50 years ago hmmmm

[@babiijean11]

They're still white

[@tumarbongrox6074]

ᴛʜᴇ ᴠᴏᴛᴇs ᴛᴏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ M᷉᷈A᷉᷈D᷉᷈D᷉᷈O᷉᷈X᷉᷈ Governor of GEORGIA were R᷉᷈I᷉᷈G᷉᷈G᷉᷈E᷉᷈D᷉᷈❗ ɪsɴ'ᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴛʀᴜᴍᴘ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ sᴀʏ❗😂😂

[@josecarranza7555]

Conservative democrats aka southerners Dixiecrats

[@frankcastle7036]

@@babiijean11 and still racists. All those Lilly white democrats send their kids to Lilly white private schools. The north today is the south of the 1960s.

[@aggiepride982]

Democrats changed ideologies in the 60s and alot of them changed parties remember Ronald Reagan and Racist ass Jesse Helms. He's one of the few who didn't change affiliation.

[@TangoSierra888]

George Wallace: “Hold my beer.”

[@Zerbey]

I was thinking about that myself! Wallace did moderate his views, at least publicly, towards the end of his political career.

[@TangoSierra888]

Chris Horry The key word being “publicly”. There’s no way he’s THAT guy thru the 50s & 60s, then suddenly a moderate in the 80s....he may have fooled some, but not all. That dude was evil incarnate.

[@Zerbey]

@@TangoSierra888 Hence why I said "at least in public"!

[@restlesscommentator2616]

@@Zerbey Yes but it took a crazy would be assassin to paralyze him for him to see the world differently for once.

[@psyche9580]

i saw a movie and there was a clip of an actor, acting as George Wallace saying something about telling liberals to stop caring about the blacks, as if george wallace wasn’t a liberal himself! they were tying to make the racist character look like a republican! wtf!

[@brooksfleming7643]

Dudes dome was colassal. Lol

[@alkeuscampbell9295]

Sad part is this man considered himself a Christian. Bible believing and God fearing. Its sad !!!

[@culturalconfederacy782]

Everyone talks about Southern segregation and racism, but no one talks about the Northern states or the Federal Government programs that discriminated against Blacks. Examples: White Riots in 1930's/1940's in Detroit, Chicago and L.A.; Federal lending programs that denied credit to Blacks; White Flight in Northern states where Whites fled to the suburbs as more Blacks moved into the larger cities.

[@neetrab]

Well, you just talked about it. Congrats!!

[@OldHeathen1963]

That's a lie! 😡

[@thomassodomizer764]

Such a shame he did not get the George Wallace treatment.

[@mtrich8113]

At least Wallace knew he was going to burn in hell if he didn't make amends.

[@MelanatednNature]

😂😂😂

[@bradleyparker4035]

What the media and Facebook doesn't tell you, is that the North, especially here in the Midwest, would not allow any African Americans to have any part in society, next door in Indiana is a great example. It was a unwritten rule and is still followed in many rural places here. There are simply some towns which are not safe after dark for people of color

[@BrokenneckYgor]

Lester was a helluva nice guy. He signed his name wherever he was asked

[@merenthaunderground645]

Came here for Lester Maddox and ended up in some video about a Governor of Georgia named Jim Spam!

[@nightowl5475]

The way I see it, the government has no right to tell a business owner who he can serve? Maddox owns the restaurant and he can tell anyone he wants to leave his property. The ax handle was there to show the Agent Provocateur that he ain’t playing games.

[@nightowl5475]

Steven Yourke Well, Steven, I don’t condone Jim Crow. I just look at the bigger picture of man’s evolution. By having northerners going into the south and demanding the southerners to live a certain way, do things a certain way, has only prolonged Jim Crow. Ideas and new concepts need to evolve naturally from within its own people. Northerners need not take on the mantel of Big Brother and demand the south to live a certain way. Who gave northerners the authority to police people from another region of the country. Jim Crow was simply prolonged by this self-righteous crusade of liberal northerners demanding people to behave and live according to their standards. You don’t see Southerners marching into New York demanding Yankees to obey Southern traditions. Contrary to popular belief, blacks and white southerners lived quite peacefully together in the Deep South. There were segregated neighborhoods because people preferred to live with their own kind. The majority of people are comfortable being with their own group of people. The only thing northerners did was stir up discontentment in the south and something most people aren’t aware of, because the winners write the history books, people today in 2019 still feel the same way. In the northern cities of America, forced busing was the law of the land to promote acceptance. What that produced was “White Flight” where millions of whites moved out of the urban cities, leaving for the suburbs so they wouldn’t have to deal with desegregation. Even the blacks are against it. When urban cities today try gentrification to bring in professional white middle class yuppies, the blacks hate this new concept because they feel they are being forced out of their section of town due to increased rents and higher taxes. The majority of people prefer being with their own kind. There are exceptions but case in point, if you go into a mixed school, and go into the cafeteria during lunch, the whites are sitting on one side, the Hispanics and blacks are separated and sitting with their own group. There is never going to be mixing of the races. The concept was a noble idea in the beginning. However, you can’t force people to do what they don’t feel comfortable with. The animal world is basically the same way. Now, we can teach respect and tolerance to people but the idea of forcing people to mix, is an existential absurdity.

[@syourke3]

Night Owl You still sound like an apologist for the racist Jim Crow southerners. The southern states are part of the United States and are bound to the U S Constitution as interpreted by the federal Court’s, whether they like it or not. The US should have desegregated the south and protected the civil rights of the newly freed slaves right after the civil war. Black people should not have had to wait for a hundred years or more to be accorded their full civil rights. The blacks in the south fought long and hard to repeal Jim Crow and win the right to vote and so forth and decent people in the north joined them in their fight. If southern bigots don’t like it, tough shit. I have no sympathy for those damned racists whatsoever. If they resent northerners for helping blacks win their civil rights and desegregate the schools and the hotels, that’s just fine with me.

[@nightowl5475]

Steven Yourke May I ask, are you a black?

[@syourke3]

Night Owl What’s that got to do with anything?

[@DavidSmith-sb2ix]

@@syourke3 And when the blacks migrated to the North after the Civil War they found out that the Yankees were racists as well. If Lincoln would have declared the purpose of fighting the Confederacy was to end slavery he wouldn't have had an army. The New York draft riots are proof of that.

[@chairde]

Lester Maddox was an interesting and complex man. It is easy to dismiss him as a Racist but he was also the man who opened up the government to Black’s.

[@oohweeoohwee9222]

Gerald O'Hare maybe he had a change of heart.

[@chairde]

oohwee oohwee , Maybe so but he is an interesting character.

[@oohweeoohwee9222]

Gerald O'Hare very colorful.like Mark Twain.

[@letusthink1]

He did that for the naive, both black and white. Integration was ok as long as it was on his terms. Easy way to puff his chest (a la Trump) on what he has done for blacks and show that he's not a racist in the court of public opinion. He did still need their votes after all.

[@chairde]

Geri, He was a classic racist and didn’t care what other people thought. No black people voted for him. Still he did more for blacks than some. Remember he didn’t lower the flag when MLK was murdered. But if you lived in the south at that time southerners understood him. Some men are complex. Thomas Jefferson held slaves. Andrew Jackson was a racist against native Americans but adopted a Native American child. History is replete with these complex men and women. I don’t really know why they are so complex.

[@sunspots6077]

In the early 70s he had a shop in Underground Atlanta. selling Autographed Ax Handles

[@mr.d9989]

I am so embarrassed to be a former racist.

[@montychristo3745]

Be racist.😐

[@Capn_FTB]

Wasnt there the governor of South Carolina in the late 90's who was like maddox? He was wasnt as bad as Maddox but he was up there.

[@nick56677]

Yes. Strom Thurmand was also a pro segregationist and stayed in power until his death at 100 in 2003.

[@timsimmons7070]

Not a Governor. A Democrat Representative

[@nickpaine]

@@timsimmons7070 Last of the Dixiecrats. Rest in pee

[@MelanatednNature]

Strom with a secret half black daughter

[@martinchuzzlewit3605]

How ironic that some 60 years post-desegregation blacks are now self-segregating. What does that say about natural human behavior? Apparently, most of us feel comfortable amongst our own kind.

[@nrcg2317]

Ironic say you, Martin? What's ironic about the behavior of blacks or people of color? Blacks (and people of color) have gained the confidence to succeed on their own without any intervention and/or support of whites. Why live among folks that do not wish to have us around?

[@rickrick5041]

NR CG Because they don’t have the right to not have you around. Suppose you have the money to buy a house and live in an expensive neighbourhood but no one wants you there because they are all white and you are black? They don’t want you there but that is too bad because we live in the United States. If they don’t like it they can move out. Also that Martin guy who wrote the first comment says that most of us feel comfortable amongst our own kind. What is our own kind? While there is unfortunately some truth to this statement, this has hateful and ignorant implications. Give that some thought.

[@nrcg2317]

@@rickrick5041 Rick...Rick...do not pivot the argument...The premise of the discussion centers on the Maddox case. He did not allow people of color to be served in his restaurant to the degree that he would use an ax to keep them away??

[@rickrick5041]

NR CG “Don’t pivot the argument”? I am free in this country to make whatever argument I wish. I assume you meant by that to stay on topic but it’s unclear. Maddox wasn’t even mentioned in this thread. However, let’s go back to what you said and relate it to the Maddox case where as you say he didn’t want blacks served in his restaurant and used an ax (actually an ax handle) to keep them away. You said “Why live among folks that do not wish to have us around.” What follows logically is that you are saying “why go to or eat at a restaurant when they don’t want us around?” So stay out of their restaurants and neighborhoods and they stay out of ours? You can think that way if you wish but it is what we fought against and won.

[@nrcg2317]

@@rickrick5041 Listen, I live in the same country. If you wish to debate intelligently then stick to the subject matter. Because I wish to remain alive, I do not venture into areas where I am not wanted...let's see...KKK land...White Supremacist neighborhoods...you know, common sense. The day I don't care about the consequences, I may take them on their own terms...For the moment, I love life...

[@clintongraves8806]

I doubt that. There are others like Eugene Talmadge of Georgia,George Wallace of Alabama,Orval Faubus of Arkansas,Theodore G.Bilbo of Mississippi,Cole Please of South Carolina, James K.Vardiman of Mississippi.

[@user-bo7bk9dq3e]

Orval Faubus was not a racist

[@ronniewatkins]

Still got my autographed Pickrick Drumstick!

[@albertbrown359]

It's amazing how far some will go to hold hands with the devil.His soul must pay up in full.

[@clc-gl4jn]

So does yours and everybody's. Lester may have been bad, but look at your own soul before you judge his. Matthew 7:2-3 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

[@albertbrown359]

@@clc-gl4jn I look at my soul with a clear conscience. I am not judging because he has written hell for his own self. Lester Maddox was one of the dirtiest devils ever

[@leonwoods4052]

MAY HE BURN IN THE LOWEST ,AND ''DARKEST''PIT OF HELL.

[@alkeuscampbell9295]

​@clc-gl4jn Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 1 Corinthians 6:2 KJV

[@fartzerelli1385]

And look what Atlanta has done to itself since. For shame.

[@bengoode1384]

But the funny thing is he was a democrat

[@winwithgrn]

So you fight to be fed by someone who hates you?? I wouldn't have wanted to eat there. The food prob was bland and tasteless anyway.

[@Sasketchejuana_man]

That’s one annoying banjo in the background

[@steves.auckerman5966]

Lmao

[@MusicalSavior23]

Sounds like a steel guitar

[@Sldumas1983]

Lol it represents the old south 😂

[@taracarr9831]

@Chuck Anya "The banjo came to America with the slaves, and musicologists have long looked in West Africa for its predecessors. Much of the speculation has centered on the ngoni and the xalam, two hide-covered stringed instruments from West Africa that bear some resemblance to the banjo." Source: The Banjo's Roots, Reconsidered : NPR

[@hellokitty2397]

😂

[@patpatterson12]

I wish, since this is a rather scholarly bit, that they included more about how he got elected. The Republicans had a viable candidate for the first time in Bo Callaway; heretofore, whoever won the Democratic primary won the election. However, they didn’t think Callaway could beat Ellis Arnall, a popular former governor. So, they went to the then=open primaries and voted for Maddox, who they figured they could beat. A run-off was forced between Arnall and Maddox, and they repeated the tactic in the run-off, and Maddox won the nomination. However, one thing the Republicans had NOT counted on was the degree of anger in the Democratic Party. Over 69,000 people wrote-in Ellis Arnall in the general election, 7% of the total vote, thus preventing anyone from getting a majority. By law, the election was decided by the Georgia Legislature, which reflected the overwhelmingly rural nature of Georgia counties. Maddox was selected by nearly a 3:1 margin.

[@robertszvetics210]

him and George wallace

[@jwehrli6]

we have restaurants today that discriminated all they have to is raise their prices really high and that will eliminate a lot of people .

[@peterah7957]

I wonder if the governor from the Shawshank redemption was somehow based on maddox... They seem to share similar mannerisms

[@magneticstorm1]

He wasn't a governor he was a Warden of a Prison in Maine.

[@ziasun4745]

Why force someone to be around someone You dont wanna be around. Why force someone to like like a race or group of people

[@capnawesome4649]

Most racists are never around people of other races.

[@GrayGamer889]

That's not what the law was. It made it unconstitutional to deny service or equal opportunity of any kind due to race

[@GrayGamer889]

@Brian G civil rights didn't pass because Whites had a change of heart. Black people should feel proud that they came from being slaves to leading the reformation of civil rights for the modern world. You should know what an inspiration That story is. See that's what inspires a true conservative. Changing his destiny on your own no one gave you equal rights your,ancestors paid for them

[@GrayGamer889]

@@capnawesome4649 most people who are racist don't stop to think they might be depriving themselves by being segregated what would our American culture be without the influence of Black people I know basketball would just be cruel to watch

[@crackfloor]

Says that racist

[@rodneypomfile2999]

What I find rather interesting is all information is here now when all those people are dead. There are stuff going on that we can't wait that long.

[@Rhythmicons]

Because of the free press, the most foul aspects of American history play out in the newspapers but no one takes action to prevent them from escalating.

[@BPoweredLove]

I love the repeated "...with an axe handle" because they want everyone to picture it as "with an axe" because anyone who knows what axe handles are knows they're just oversized toothpicks. Basically harmless. More symbolic than anything.

[@shannonhenson609]

Lester Maddox was an angel compared to Ben Tillman of South Carolina.

[@Soulthinker2007]

Or Theodore G.Bilbo of Mississippi.

[@MelanatednNature]

Let's not leave my homestate Alabama out and throw George Wallace in there as well

[@MelanatednNature]

Strom as well

[@NCLUSA]

I looked up Racist in the dictionary, sure enough there was a picture of old Lester.

[@FlipNasty1]

Most? Not even close

[@idesofmarchUNIAEA]

1:53 you’re missing the point of Governor Maddox. His point was, that government force should not be used. Let me say that again, government force should not be use, to either integrate or separate society. He believed in liberty for all. What he had an issue with though and, Had some sort of deficit, which prevented him from understanding that the customers also have rights. But that goes back to the use of government force to ensure their rights. Which indicates he was taking them or founding documents literally. This is just an explanation not an excuse. There should be no shock that he appointed black people to his administration. He hired them on their merit, that was Dr. King’s message. Do not hire by the color of their skin, hire them for their merit.

[@larrywheeler9917]

If someone violates your civil right under the Bill of Rights and my state judicial system fails to protect my rights - the federal govt can and must step up to enforce civil rights laws. That's the legal system. This isn't the confederacy.

[@jemikabates9038]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Rhythmicons]

@@larrywheeler9917 Hows that working out in '21?

[@leviturner3265]

Well, there is freedom of association in the bill of rights, nothing about the freedom to eat in a restaurant the owner does not want you in... If there is freedom of association there must also be freedom from association. So really forced segregation, or forced integration of a private establishment is unconstitutional

[@aggiepride982]

That's why Dick Cavett had him on his show he was ahead of his time😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@brendanjobe6895]

It was all staged

[@mrmoralman1]

So an axe handle is a...weapon?

[@ryanskalman7725]

Funny thing is he was a Democrat and Jimmy Carter picked him as his lieutenant governor when he became governor of Georgia.

[@jasonandlynnechambers3420]

He was a Democrat?!

[@marthaindahouse1010]

it was different back then, dems being quite socially liberal is a recent phenomenon

[@nickpaine]

@@marthaindahouse1010 FDR was "recently"?

[@marthaindahouse1010]

@@nickpaine FDR wasn’t socially liberal lmao, he was racist, but not nearly as much as lester maddox

[@nickpaine]

@@marthaindahouse1010FDR wasn't "socially liberal" ? Ever hear of The Social Security Act of 1935 ? Thank Roosevelt when your check arrives. Your equally ridiculous claim that he was a racist is also wildly incorrect. I can assure you FDR was far less racist than your post reveals about yourself. Where do you get such absurd ideas? Get off the right wing garbage. Fox is all bs all the time.

[@johningram1920]

When James Brown the godfather of soul got locked up who got him out of jail in Agusta Georgia? Good old Lester Maddox

[@scretching08]

Maddox was saving face. It was not out of fairness or love for blacks. Its called diplomacy.

[@deontesampson1991]

@@scretching08 thank you

[@treytaylor1511]

Who told him to get him out of jail.

[@johningram1920]

@@treytaylor1511 Simple one call does it all Jame Brown called his friend the Ex Governer.

[@letusthink1]

This guy was the Trump of his time. He sure knew how to appease his own base to keep them loyal while also making concessions and boasting about it to manipulate public opinion.

[@atlbackin82fool]

Yes

[@kathleenferguson3296]

"Axe handles vs. The Right to Vote, All white jury, that'sall she wrote" David Massingell. Tenneseean.

[@andrewthetextbook489]

No. George Wallace was.

[@conservativethought1460]

​ Why do you think he hired more blacks in government than all the previous governors combined ? When asked why he said he hired the best people for the job. Was the guy a racist ? Maybe. Was he a segregationist. Absolutely ! At the time there were plenty of people on both sides of that argument. At the end of the day we need to learn to "love our neighbor as ourselves".

[@bobfaam5215]

Federal Government intervention was necessary . Because we know what happens when states are left to their own devices and Federal Government does not interfere . Segregation , KKK , Lynchings , Denial of voting rights . State rights were just a cover up term used for subjugation of Blak people . That’s why intervention of Federal Government is necessary .

[@conservativethought1460]

@@bobfaam5215 All perpetrated by Democrats

[@kiki1573]

You don’t want to eat with me, BYE. Like I’m really going to fight for rights to be around people that don’t like me.

[@HomoVastans]

It should be obvious by now, even to the thickest Northern Liberal, that the Southerner knew the black man much better than they.

[@johnt.wolfbanger5731]

Hear whatever you wanna hear, but what he was really saying in that famous interview was NOT to predicate things based on race. He was against desegregation based on race, and segregation based on race. Realize this interview took place just a few years after the government replaced black fathers with Uncle Sam. Half a century later, we now have 3 out of 4 black kids born out of wedlock.

[@atiphwyne5609]

"He was against desegregation based on race and segregation based on race." This is a very good example of sophistry. The first part of the sentence is the deceiving part it implies that he was some kind of advocate for justice and that desegregation was an evil and the second part of the sentence is demonstrably untrue when he refused entry to black people at his cafe. He wanted them to go to their own kind for food not any other white establishment either as he clearly states in the video. A perfect example of racism and segregation at work. So see whatever you want to see my friend but don't think that the rest of us are blind. Good luck to you in your world view.

[@mohammadalirashed3103]

@@atiphwyne5609 The first part of the sentence makes no such implication, it's a straightforward statement that you added your own speculation to. Secondly, his refusal of service to the black patrons wasn't based on race, he clarifies “This property belongs to me-and I’ll throw out a white one, a black one, a red-headed one or a bald headed one. It doesn’t make any difference to me.”

[@montychristo3745]

@@mohammadalirashed3103 He kicked those gentlemen of simply because of their race, not any other reason. If he were to kick out a redhead for instance, it would not be because of some racial group identity but rather individual behavior....obviously. Simply put, we don't tolerate that type of behavior in this country. However, no one should be forced on anyone, I agree, but Americans simply DO NOT like being told what to do or where to do it. Those Black gentlemen probably did not even want to particularly eat there, but the fact that someone was telling them that they couldn't, made them want to. I also think that forced integration is wrong and possibly immoral. People should be able to feel however they want, about whomever they want, as long as those feelings DO NOT violate another person's human rights. Your right to be a pos racist... ends where my rights begin. The 2nd amendment applies to ALL...👍🏿🤷🏿‍♂️🇺🇸

[@leonwoods4052]

THAT DOES NOT MAKE SINCE.

[@marymargaretblumhorst5359]

@@leonwoods4052 And what you tried to say doesn’t make any sense either!

[@DoctorRazzArea4]

Sooooo the answer is no I guess?

[@blakesutherland519]

Lester Maddox, Jesse Jackson and George Wallace all three Campaigned for Jimmy Carter in 1976 across the South. That's how Carter was able to get the rural vote and urban vote that election and sweep the South with only Virginia and Oklahoma voting for Ford. Without that broad based support, Gerald Ford would've won several southern states ...Texas, Mississippi and Florida and the Election. Carter was not popular enough on his own down south to pull together the Rural White voters and Urban Black Voters without both extremes that made up the Democratic party during that era. Jimmy Carter was actually the very rare times in American history that rural whites and urban blacks voted for the same candidate in the South. This support narrowly offset Ford's appeal in the suburbs. Had Carter been facing Reagan that year, it's very doubtful that he could've won due to Reagan's popularity with white southeners.

[@bobfaam5215]

Plenty of Rural voters are in Northern USA , Central and Western USA too . Rural voters are not just in South .

[@blakesutherland519]

@@bobfaam5215 agreed but at that time, Rural voters still made the difference in Elections in the South.

[@dabigdikdangler]

Thanks this was informative, I'm trying to learn how racists think by researching Maddox, Wallace and Falwell

[@jamesthomas5109]

Falwell?

[@dabigdikdangler]

@@jamesthomas5109 Jerry Fallwell founder of the Moral Majority and evangelical political leader

[@jamesthomas5109]

@@dabigdikdangler Thanks, I had no clue who the name belonged to for a while.

[@nrcg2317]

Their thinking can be summarized in one word: FEAR.

[@DavidSmith-sb2ix]

Add the names Farrakhan, Sharpton and Omar to the list. Racism isn't exclusive to whites.

[@GlobalTubeTruth]

I don't agree with Mr. Maddox on his politics but I respect him for being steadfast in his beliefs, as ignorant and backward as they were. There are Black segregationists too and I don't agree with their politics either but I respect them in the exact same way. I love Black people. African American are most definitely some of the greatest American citizens. I'm happy to see Black men and women shown the respect and equality they deserve. After all, they've earned it as much as anyone. I'd like to see the Native American people shown the same respect. They deserve it more than anyone else and have gotten the least by far. That is a true disgrace to the nation.

[@cyng8198]

What specific political stance is it you disagree with? Thanks.

[@TheStompboxer]

If you have any respect for Maddox, I have no respect for you.

[@bobfaam5215]

Native Americans got their reparations . They got their own Reservations with political autonomy and Self Government too . Black people did not get their own reservations like Native Americans with political autonomy .

[@r.shanethompson7933]

​@@bobfaam5215you lack knowledge of history sir. If you comment is factual explain the existence of Liberia. How in any significant way does it differ from the Native American reservations?

[@paulzappulla9770]

Stop the nonsense everyone, everybody has some form of prejudice, it may be class based, it may be sexual orientation, it maybe for any reason, it doesnt make it right, but people will feel the way they want, and no government or politics will change that.

[@whateverman2674]

here's the thing....he wasnt a racist. he believe people shouldn't upheld FORCE segregation and FORCE integration.

[@i-35vagabond56]

Lester Maddox played for his constituency.

[@leewhaley552]

Think about it. Even today social segregation still exists. Like it or not, it's a reality. Human nature

[@marcusgarza7765]

It's not "human nature", rather simply NATURE naturally by itself! You don't see brown bears get along with grizzly bears nor polar bears, even though they're all bears...for a reason. Same applies to all organisms on this planet.

[@Soulthinker2007]

No,it's Eugene Talmadge or Theodore G.Bilbo.

[@Blt-rr2lm]

Answer to your question. It was a tie with George Wallace.

[@simeonorive145]

He reminds me of the evil bald governor in the beautiful film "Oh brother where art though" im sure that character was based on this stain of a human..

[@stantondinger5836]

Is you is or is you not mah con-stitch-u-ency?

[@simeonorive145]

"booooo" "In constant sorow .........." I could watch that film over and over.

[@r.shanethompson7933]

​@@simeonorive145only film in my life that I watched for the first time and immediately started it over and watch again.

[@GrayGamer889]

I think George Wallace -Alabama had him beat

[@kimjones2720]

And they were all proud Democrats

[@notoriousei9650]

'" the more things change-the more things remain the damn same are worse-(hidden)!!!!!""

[@mentalmachete2273]

I would've never fought to eat in that restaurant. Never. Businesses should have the right to serve whom they choose. Instead, the ancestors should've considered this an opportunity to open their own restaurants.

[@AGripRentals]

To this day prostitutes won’t serve black clients

[@moonie1825]

yeah that's easy to say that if you don't have to deal with it personally. so while those black people pay taxes just like any other member of society they can legally be discriminated from being able to access social services. Yeah why didn't those segregated blacks descendant of mostly uneducated slaves segregated to slums and lacking in access to proper schooling just open their own business in the majority white state?

[@peekay5518]

Well Tejiofor their were a lot of imbeciles swallowing what he was serving to make governor, Carolina wasn’t so sweet when was boss,

[@eddieedwards8679]

Me along with 11 of my football / college wrestling buddies would have loved to be twenty year olds back in his city while they were grabbing and swinging axe handles . Well it would have been at least triple the amount of them on the ground knocked out with several lumps on their heads , teeth missing and blacks eyes 😉 !!!

[@TotallyNotALolicon]

Yeah till they bring out guns and gun all of you down and get proven innocent that’s how that would have happened and you know it, you wouldn’t have done jack.

[@marcusgarza7765]

Shut up, you wouldn't be alive.

[@TheBeastMan-nt4mv]

He's screening for help in hell.

[@infonomics]

Screaming, not screening.

[@aidan7655]

If the mayor of Birmingham ran and won the spot for governor he would be the worst by far

[@magiccitymelkite6161]

Randall Woodfin?

[@Samsoncooperman]

Damn, videos on dick cavett show made Lester seem funny and likable

[@Rhythmicons]

Context.

[@yellowstoneloyal8186]

Good grief, thats in the past, blah, blah, blah, it always the same thing

[@frankesposito2182]

Thank-God for Jimmy Carter !!!

[@RebelRampant]

Well, at least we know that desegregation ended up being GREAT for the public school system.

[@KrissowskiM]

Buahahaha. Now the students are ignorants and miseducated fools! Worked great indeed!

[@randyhudgins9920]

Love you always Lester -our great city of Atlanta is being destroyed, not safe to walk on the sidewalk. Prisons running over.

[@Ben-ue4gh]

Atlanta is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. Marvel Studios, Delta, Coka Cola, and many more businesses are located there. Many recent college graduates are moving there because of the affordable standard of living, great property values, safety, and job opportunities. Are you really from Atlanta?

[@pg1016]

Take a look at all the segregated areas today ... most of the ghettos today weren't ghettos back then !!!!! desegregation led to white flight in larger cities , especially in the north! Urban schools are more segregated today than back then, have the worst graduation rates, most poverty , on and on !!!!

[@roycemason9842]

Forcing yourself on a group of individuals who don't even want to acknowledge you is not right what do you want

[@Kitties_are_pretty]

They wanted to be able to walk into a restaurant without being barred based on their skin colour. If someone's precious feelings are hurt because they have to be in the same room with someone whose skin is a different colour from theirs then that's their problem.

[@verborgenewahrheit1594]

Joshua Brooks forced integration is wrong And in a free market, private companies should have the right to decide who they wish to serve. This might work for them or against them, but in a free market Government should not have the right to use violent force upon private schools or companies

[@Kitties_are_pretty]

​@@verborgenewahrheit1594 Surely you don't literally believe that "in a free market Government should not have the right to use violent force upon private schools or companies". Like if a company's business model was kidnapping homeless people and butchering them for their organs, surely a government would have the right to "use violent force" on them. Right?

[@verborgenewahrheit1594]

Joshua Brooks Obviously the state can and should intervene if the company in question is in the act of committing a felony. This is a wholly different affair from private companies having the right to freedom of association

[@drg8687]

@@verborgenewahrheit1594 You have a constitution. The majority doesn't get to trample the rights of minority. Embrace your laws, or leave.

[@ericanderson7059]

Should've used a 6ft chain like his boy Biden

[@blackagentsmith3562]

no

[@jlove1945]

Sooooo whats the answer

[@GrayGamer889]

Just try keeping an open mind and imagine the other side but most of all take care of each other

[@KrissowskiM]

The answer is - he was not racist at all!

[@jlove1945]

@@KrissowskiM can you expand on that like what was he basing decisions off of if not race social status economic etc