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. 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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... 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