Faced with federated Alabama National Guard troops, Alabama Governor George Wallace ends its blockade of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and allows two African American students to enroll June 11, 1963.
George Wallace, one of the most controversial politicians in the history of the United States, was elected governor of Alabama in 1962 as part of an ultra-segregationist platform. In his 1963 inaugural speech, he promised his white supporters: “Segregation now!” Tomorrow segregation! Segregation forever! “When African American students attempted to disunite the University of Alabama in June 1963, the new governor of Alabama, flanked by state soldiers, literally blocked the door of the enrollment office. the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregation unconstitutional in 1954. Brown v. Board of Education, and the executive has undertaken aggressive tactics to enforce the decision.
On June 10, 1963, President John F. Kennedy federalized the National Guard troops and deployed them to the University of Alabama to force its desegregation. The next day, Governor Wallace gave in to federal pressure and two African American students – Vivian Malone and James A. Hood – successfully enrolled. In September of the same year Wallace again tried to block the desegregation of an Alabama public school – this time Tuskegee High School in Huntsville – but President Kennedy again used his executive power and the Federal Guard troops national. Wallace had no choice but to give in.
READ MORE: Segregation in the United States
