Rep. Lewis Has It Right

A picture-postcard view of the "Aud"
(Construction began in 1939)

Rep. John Lewis, a Democrat from Georgia, recently compared the level of anger and vitriol at recent McCain and Palin campaign rallies to the atmosphere of those held by George Wallace in 1968. The Republicans responded with predictable Pavlovian outrage. As one who attended a Wallace rally – at the War Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo – during the first semester of my freshman year at UB, I thought the analogy was very apt.

In the fall of 1968, all three candidates – Nixon, Humphrey, and Wallace – visited the “Aud” during the month of October. New York, with its 43 electoral votes (the most of any state at that time) was definitely a battleground state, and Buffalo seems to have been ground zero, at least in retrospect. (I also attended the Humphrey rally. Had also planned to be at the Nixon rally but some long-forgotten conflict arose.)

Four of us from the 482 A & B Allenhurst apartments, Humphrey supporters all, rode the bus downtown and attempted to blend in with the huge turnout of Wallace supporters. (War Memorial Auditorium had a capacity of 12,000, and I recall most of the seats being occupied.) As though we were conducting a sociological field experiment, our goal was not to protest but rather to be part of the crowd. We succeeded – at least no one accused us of being long-haired hippie scum, or worse yet (in their collective mind), college students – mainly because all but one of us sported pre-Beatles 1960s era haircuts. Nevertheless, I gotta believe we looked seriously out of place, especially since we weren’t offering up any cheers of support.

Forty years later, I can clearly recall the seething anger and racial fears that Wallace brought to the surface. It permeated the cavernous building like a foul smell. The four of us had entered a different universe – and were relieved to return to reality. Or at least what vaguely passed for reality on college campuses in the late 1960s. (I continue to regret the fact that I didn’t keep a journal at this time in my life -- or make copies of the letters I wrote to friends.)