Jan. 10, 1964 - Governor George Wallace of Alabama said today that he was considering entering five Democratic Presidential primaries in the North. He named as likely testing grounds for his states’ rights candidacy Ohio, Maryland, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Indiana. The Governor told a news conference that he expected to have basic support for the Presidency from Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, and perhaps several other Southern states. Neither the Democratic nor Republican party “has this election wrapped up,” the Governor said. “But Alabama is getting tired of being a whipping boy.” If enough states vote the states’ rights ticket for independent electors, he said, “we will have enough electoral votes to make people sit up and take notice.” “I have no illusions about becoming President,” the Governor said earlier. “I’m a Southerner — there’s a lot of prejudice, bigotry, and bias against us.”
His remarks followed a speech at UCLA, where he appeared in the student body’s Distinguished Speakers Series. Wallace was introduced by Dr. Charles E. Young, vice chancellor of UCLA, who said he does not agree with the speaker’s sentiments. In his speech, Wallace described the pending civil rights bill as “a revolution of government against the people” and “a tyrannical threat to our whole concept of government and society.” “The bill ought to be renamed the ‘Involuntary Servitude Act of 1963,’” he said. “It is the beginning of thought-control legislation.” The students responded to his pro-segregation statements with some laughter and a few hisses. Otherwise there was no disorder, although campus police were augmented by a dozen Los Angeles plainclothes officers.
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