George Wallace
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Governor of Alabama · United States
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Content note: Pledge to maintain racial segregation. The words are shown as they were said or written. Why
“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 today . . . segregation tomorrow . . . segregation forever.”
Delivered on the Capitol steps where Jefferson Davis took his oath as Confederate president in 1861. The speech was written with Asa Carter and opposed federal enforcement of school desegregation in Alabama.
Inaugural address of Governor George C. Wallace, 14 January 1963, text reprinted in Jill Karson, ed., Great Speeches in History (Greenhaven Press, 2003), as reproduced by BlackPast.org Source