The night George Wallace came to Omaha, and the 1968 race riot began

[Omaha Steve]

By Erin Grace World-Herald columnist Mar 4, 2018 Updated 5 hrs ago

The night George Wallace was scheduled to speak in Omaha, Raymond Parks, a black teenager, and Paul Landow, a white college student, settled into seats on the upper level of Omaha’s old Civic Auditorium, each eager to see something — and neither exactly sure just what.

In a perch above the stage was Rudy Smith, a black World-Herald photographer who readied his camera and steeled himself against rhetoric to come. Miles from downtown, Omaha Police Officer David Heese, a white cop patrolling west Omaha, was about to be told he’d be working through the night in north Omaha.

The face of racism had come to town that day in 1968, and Omaha was on edge.

Deadly, destructive race riots were then roiling the nation — 163 had occurred in 1967, so many that President Lyndon Johnson created a commission to study the issue. The commission’s damning report, leaked in early March 1968, blamed white racism. But that answer was controversial and not everyone agreed.

FULL story & video: http://www.omaha.com/columnists/plus/grace-the-night-george-wallace-came-to-omaha-and-the/article_00bf521a-7a68-51c2-bbde-fbddaedaef92.html

[Stallion]

1. Suggested Viewing: American Experience: George Wallace-Settin' the Woods on Fire

he was a detestable man-but he is the genesis of this nightmare in national politics--and to understand what is going on it starts with Wallace

after watching it-I'm certain that Trump took his campaign shtick from Wallace

you can find it free on youtube with a simple search