Top

Transcription

Top
George Wallace the focus of Monday testimony in Alabama property tax trial | al.com
Site Search
Sign in | Register for free
Page 1 of 3
Search Local Business Listings
Search for keywords, people, locations, obituaries, Web ID and more.. Submit Q
Home
News
Weather
Top
Stories
Sports
Entertainment
Travel
Connecticut beats
Butler 53-41 to win
NCAA championship...
Interact
Jobs
Autos
Real Estate
Railroad Park voted
best new park in U.S.
in web poll...
Home > Breaking News from The Huntsville Times > Court
George Wallace the focus of Monday testimony in
Alabama property tax trial
Rentals
Classified Ads
Shop
B-ham's civil rights
advocate Laura Toffel
Knox dies...
Sponsored By:
Published: Tuesday, April 05, 2011, 7:30 AM
By Brian Lawson, The Huntsville Times
Follow
Like
Share
0
Sign Up to see what your friends like.
Share
Email
0
0
Print
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Former Gov. George Wallace loomed large
Monday in a federal trial over Alabama's property tax system.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs sought to show that Wallace's mix of power
and racist politics helped create a property tax system that leaves
File image
Alabama schools underfunded, particularly poor, largely black schools.
Lawyers for the State of Alabama, the defendant in the case, cited
Wallace's diminishing power in his second term as governor and his eventual reaching out to black
voters, to argue that the tax system wasn't Wallace's creation.
More Breaking News from The
Huntsville Times
Most Comments
Most Recent
Breaking News from The Huntsville
Times stories with the most comments in
the last 7 days.
Wallace led Alabama in the early 1960s and became a hugely polarizing figure. His symbolic
25
Alabama House member
proposes eliminating federal
income tax deduction to raise
revenue
23
State challenges tax expert's
testimony that Alabama
property tax approach hurts
schools
20
Superintendents describe
tough school conditions in
testimony for Huntsville
property tax trial
book about the former governor.
20
Huntsville board members each
to return nearly $15,560 in pay
Frederick testified that Wallace was in danger of losing his bid for governor in 1970 to then-Gov.
20
Whitesburg Christian
interested in buying Huntsville
public school
"standing in the schoolhouse door" at the University of Alabama and the cry "I say segregation
today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever," gave him a national audience and he ran for
president four times.
He helped get his wife elected governor in 1966, was re-elected governor in 1970 and again in
1974. He was elected again in 1982.
Dr. Jeff Frederick, an associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina at
Pembroke and an Alabama native, testified all day Monday about Wallace. Frederick has written a
Albert Brewer. Wallace's campaign began warning voters that if they didn't support Wallace over
Brewer, "the black bloc vote would run Alabama for 50 years," Frederick testified. The campaign
also distributed a doctored photo of Brewer seemingly talking to Malcolm X and Nation of Islam
leader Elijah Muhammad.
Frederick testified the picture was actually singer Johnny Cash and the two men, but the
campaign attached a photo of Brewer over Cash.
Wallace's most successful tactic was to rail against the combined forces of the federal government
and blacks in the 1960s, who were conspiring to take away the way of life in Alabama and the
South, Frederick said. Wallace regularly depicted white Southerners as a noble minority being
bullied by larger forces and he found a national audience, Frederick said.
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/04/george_wallace_the_focus_of_mo.html
4/5/2011
George Wallace the focus of Monday testimony in Alabama property tax trial | al.com
Page 2 of 3
The federal government rolled back each of his efforts to evade integration of schools, Frederick
said. So Wallace made it clear to white Alabamians that integration was inevitable and the state's
public schools were of diminishing value. He supported the growth of private white-only schools in
the late 1960s and 1970s Frederick said. Amid that backdrop Wallace's support of legislation that
capped property taxes in 1972, supported by the Alabama Farm Bureau, wasn't simply about
taxes, but about reduced support for public schools.
Drayton Nabers, an attorney representing the State of Alabama, pressed Frederick on Wallace's
struggles with the Alabama Legislature in 1971 and the difficulty rural interests had in getting a
tax measure that lowered rates for farms, timberland and homes to 15 percent of assessed value.
Nabers noted Wallace had run in 1970 promising no tax hikes.
Nabers questioned whether the debates over both the 1972 and 1978 property tax amendments
were really a struggle between urban and rural legislators over state dollars rather than race.
What's this?
Users with the most al.com comments in
the last 7 days
The defense's cross-examination of Frederick resumes at 9 a.m.
Related topics: Lynch trial
Sponsored Links
Chevrolet Tahoe Clearance
Chevrolet Dealers Must Reach Sales Goals. Get Low Internet
Prices.
Chevrolet.DealersClearingLots.com
Do NOT Buy Car Insurance!
1 Trick your Auto Insurer hides from you for extremely cheap
rates.
www.News9consumer.com
Chevrolet Prices
Chevrolet at Edmunds.com Find Forums & More.
www.Chevrolet.Edmunds.com
Share this story
Most Active Users
Story tools
Email
Print
380
saneamerican
206
ahsaaref- 151 days
to KO
179
AU vi
165
TinFoilHatGuy
126
caforbama
Users We Love
gotluv4bham
Gotluv4bham has posted 439
comments to date, and signs off
each comment with, "MAKE THE
CITY YOUR HOME!!! SUPPORT
BIRMINGHAM!!!"
More stories in Breaking News from The Huntsville Times
Previous story
Next story
Feds may protect rare sunfish found only in
Limestone County's Beaverdam Creek
Accident in north Huntsville on the Parkway
near Bob Wade Lane causes delays.
More Users We Love
0
Comments
Connect with al.com
Feed
What's this?
Post a comment
Sign in to al.com
Don't have an account?
Username
Register now for free, or sign in with any of these
services:
All Facebook & Twitter accounts »
Recommendations
Password
AIM
c Remember me?
d
e
f
g
Submit Query
Sign Up
Google
Create an account or log in to see what
your friends are recommending.
Wide receiver Duron Carter commits to
Alabama
833 people shared this.
OpenID
I forgot my username or password »
Michael Waltrip's car at Talladega to
honor Auburn's national championship
team
812 people shared this.
Auburn should worry if former players'
charges on HBO special are true
594 people shared this.
Auburn coach Gene Chizik calls HBO
handling of allegations of illegal
payments `pathetic and pure ga
Facebook social plugin
285 people shared this.
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/04/george_wallace_the_focus_of_mo.html
4/5/2011
George Wallace the focus of Monday testimony in Alabama property tax trial | al.com
Page 3 of 3
From Our Advertisers
• Credit Unions vs Banks- Click Here for a
Comparison
• Talladega Superspeedway - NASCAR
Tickets for $49
• Experience the beach as it was meant to
be … Fort Morgan Realty.
Advertise With Us »
Popular Tags
What's this?
Alabama Legislature
assault burglary Campaign 2010
crime drugs HT news
Huntsville Huntsville City Council
Huntsville City Schools
Huntsville crime Huntsville
police Huntsville Times obituaries
Jackson County Marshall County
police Redstone Arsenal robbery
Scottsboro shooting theft Tommy
Battle traffic UAH shooting weather
Site Search
Search Local Business Listings
Search by keyword, town name, Web ID and more...
Site Map | Advertise | Contact us
Submit Q
Make us your home page
Home | News | Weather | Sports | Entertainment | Travel | Interact | Jobs | Autos | Real Estate | Rentals | Classified Ads | Shop | Place an Ad
z Your Photos
z Post a Job
z Alabama Business News
Subscribe to our content (RSS)
z Your Videos
z Post a free classified ad
z US & World News
z Blogs
z Sell your car
z Obits / Death Notices
Newsletters | Text alerts
z Forums
z Sell/Rent your Home
z Weddings & Celebrations
z Travel
z Apartments & Rentals
z Lifestyle News
Friend al.com on Facebook
z Music
z Claim your Business
z Good Deals & Frugal Living
al.com mobile site
Follow @aldotcom on Twitter
Listing for Free
Special home delivery offers!
The Birmingham News | The Huntsville Times | Mobile Press-Register
© 2010 Alabama Live LLC. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement. Please read our Privacy Policy.
Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Contact interactivity management.
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/04/george_wallace_the_focus_of_mo.html
4/5/2011