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George Wallace's daughter reflects on current racial unrest: 'America is hurting' - CNN

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His grandfather was former Alabama Gov. George Wallace, one of the most notorious segregationists of the 20th century.
It was at that moment that Peggy made a promise to her son: "I don't know why Pawpaw did those things to other people, but I know he was wrong. So maybe it will have to be up to you and me to help make things right."
Since then, leaving a different legacy has meant speaking out against racial inequity and injustice -- what her father fought to preserve for most of his political life.
And now, with the nation erupting in protest and pain over the death of George Floyd, Wallace Kennedy expressed disappointment at the lack of progress made on race relations.
"It should not have happened to any of those African American men or women," Wallace Kennedy said in an interview with CNN. "It's a tragedy. America is hurting. America is divided. We're tired. We're grieving."
"Every American has dreams and beliefs and they should, I'm sure George Floyd had dreams and for his daughter, Gianna. And I, I just, um, I just think that we should be further along on race relations, but we are not," she said.
Given her own journey from daughter of a segregationist to civil rights advocate, she said her message to white Americans who are on their own journey of understanding is to learn to see people with their heart.
"I think we -- we've slipped these last few years. We need to believe in ourselves again, and we need to believe in our fellow man. Again, we need to learn to see people with our hearts rather than our minds, because that will teach us the lessons of unconditional love," she said.

A new legacy

Wallace Kennedy met with civil rights icon John Lewis in 2009 during a pilgrimage to Selma, Alabama -- where in 1965 he was almost beaten to death while marching for the right to vote voting rights for African Americans.
"I crossed Edmund Pettus bridge with him. And he was so kind and gentle to me. He helped me find the courage and strength that I needed to find my own voice. And I knew that I wanted to leave my two sons a different legacy than the one that was left for me," said Wallace Kennedy.
Following John Lewis on civil rights journey 'touched by the spirit of history'
We first met Wallace Kennedy in 2018 in her home city of Montgomery, Alabama, at the famous Dexter Avenue Baptist Church -- Martin Luther King, Jr.'s congregation from 1954 to 1960 -- where he and fellow civil rights leaders planned early bus boycotts in their fight for racial justice and equality.
The church stands in the shadow of the Alabama state Capitol building -- where George Wallace delivered his 1963 inauguration address vowing "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."
Wallace Kennedy stood next to her father as he delivered that vitriolic speech. More than 50 years later, she stood at the same spot with Bernice King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter, as they held hands and hugged.
"I could not help, but wonder how the course of history might've changed if Martin Luther King and daddy had known that one day right down here in Alabama, that little black girl and that little white girl holding hands would be their own daughters," Wallace Kennedy later wrote in her book, "The Broken Road: George Wallace and a Daughter's Journey to Reconciliation."

Forgiveness

Wallace Kennedy says she will never forget what Lewis said to her as they crossed the Edmund Pettus bridge together.
"We stopped at the place where he was beaten and he showed me that place. And then we went over to the rail and we looked down in the water, to the water. And then he said to me, 'now sister, it's time for us to move on.'"
"I thought, this is what I will speak up and speak out about. And this is the way that I'll try to make things better and I will do this. And this will be the first stone that I lay for a foundation for the legacy for my two sons. And that would be the, to walk across that bridge with John Lewis," recalled Wallace Kennedy.
In 1998, Lewis had written a New York Times op-ed announcing that he forgave Peggy's father -- George Wallace -- the Alabama governor who sent armed troops to clash with Lewis and other peaceful protesters on that famous march from Selma.
Wallace, who was shot during a presidential bid and was left paralyzed in a wheelchair, went to the Dexter Avenue church later in life unannounced, and asked for forgiveness.
"When I met George Wallace, I had to forgive him, because to do otherwise -- to hate him -- would only perpetuate the evil system we sought to destroy," Lewis later wrote.
Wallace Kennedy says she hopes by accepting her past as she did in a book, as well as in speeches and forums across the South, she can encourage others to make the uncomfortable choice to speak out and embrace change.
"When I was growing up, I grew up in a political family. I really didn't have an opinion about anything cause no one asked me for my opinion, but when my father stood in the schoolhouse door, I thought it was wrong, in my heart I thought it was wrong...I found my voice late in life, but I'm glad I did."

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George Wallace's daughter reflects on current racial unrest: 'America is hurting' - CNN
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