Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins

¶ … Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism, and the Transformation of American Politics" by Dan T. Carter and "I've Got the Light of Freedom" by Charles Payne. Specifically, it will contain a comparative book review on the two books. These books reflect a specific time in our society when struggle and oppression were at their height, and both present different viewpoints on the same political time. Together, they are an intimate portrayal of a man, politics, and the power of a movement vs. The power of a man.

Both books cover southern politics in the 1960s and beyond, but from quite different perspectives. "The Politics of Rage" is an unauthorized biography of southern governor and presidential hopeful George C. Wallace, one of the most outspoken bigots and controversial politicians in our time. "He was the most influential loser in twentieth-century American politics" (Carter 468) and this could be the thesis of the book. Carter's book chronicles Wallace's life from his parents to his final political activities and death. Carter shows just how influential Wallace was in southern and national politics, and shows how Presidents Nixon and Reagan manipulated Wallace's popularity to gain Republican voters in the South.

I've Got the Light" is a chronology of the southern blacks' fight for freedom and equality, illustrating how a large group of apolitical society massed together to fight as one unit for their civil and political rights. This book uses a mainly chronological approach to show how change came to the south, and that it was far more prevalent than most people realize now, or at the time. It also shows how the civil rights movement had its foundation in the work of earlier activists who largely remained imperceptible to the general public, and how activists built the movement throughout the South. The book concentrates mainly on the small community of Greenwood, Mississippi and shows how the movement affected this small town as a representative of what was happening all over the South. Then, the book looks at Greenwood after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and shows what changes affected the community, and what did not. Finally, the book discusses how the civil rights movement died away, and became unseen once again.

Both authors have distinctive viewpoints in their books, and it is clear they knew their subjects well. Carter is a noted southern historian, and his book represents detailed research with an edge that at once portrays Wallace as a man, and as the consummate politician, whose every move was motivated by political ambition. Carter wanted to show the man, his legend, and his reality. "For George Wallace, the governorship was simply the platform from which he ran for office" (Carter 382). The author's viewpoint is balanced, but cannot help but portray a frustrated man whose political ambitions never reached fruition. Payne's viewpoint is from the Black perspective, the Blacks that Wallace hated so much. Wallace was an openly acknowledged bigot, and Payne shows the other side of the coin, the Blacks who were fighting so desperately against men like Wallace (who curiously, is only mentioned quite briefly in Payne's book). His viewpoint is from the oppressed struggling to be free, and he uses specific examples of people and places to get his viewpoint across. For example, he recounts the story of one black man in Greenwood who struggled to register to vote. "The first time he went, the registrar told him he had to know how many seeds were in a watermelon and how many bubbles in a bar of soap, questions of the sort that registrars often asked as a form of teasing Black applicants" (Payne 136). Payne eloquently shows the struggles of Black Americans for their freedom, and how difficult the struggle really was.

Each author uses complete and compelling evidence to illustrate his thesis and viewpoint. It is clear they both did meticulous research, and interviewed countless witnesses to the events as they happened in both books. They present both sides of their arguments decently, and try to portray the people in their books as real people, complete with flaws and problems. Carter shows Wallace as a family man and a womanizer, and Payne shows the community of Greenwood as a cotton community ruled by whites and populated by Black workers who support the whites for survival. These are professional historians, who know how to present both sides of an argument, and present compelling information on both sides for their readers.