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REFINE
Browse All : Images by Comm and Ater, Malcolm
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Title
You'll be the Winner When You Vote for William Winter
Description
[16 unnumbered pages : color illustrations, portraits ;, "YOU'LL BE THE WINNER WHEN YOU VOTE FOR WILLIAM WINTER" was produced in 1967 by Commercial Comics when William Winter ran for Governor of Mississippi. It represents the LAST time a PRO-SEGREGATION comic was used in a U.S. political election. Hard to believe that three years after the 1964 Civil Rights Law and the dreaded "Mississippi Burning" murders that shocked the nation, white politicians in Mississippi were still clinging to their segregationist views. You have to read this comic to believe that some people just don't want to change, no matter what.
The book tells us about young William growing up on a farm, the son of school teachers and going to school in a one-room school house, becoming valedictorian of his class upon graduation, going to law school, becoming involved with politics by helping U.S. Senator Jim Eastland and later, Senator John Stennis, enlisting in WW II and rising to Captain, and then re-enlisting during the Korean War even though as a member of the state legislature he would have been excused from serving. We also learn of his desire to have better education for the young people, along with better roads and highways and initiatives for more jobs for more people, all things good politicians like to say.
But we also learn that Mr. Winter wants to make his views on segregation crystal clear: I was born and raised a segregationist. I have always defended that position. I defend it now..." Nor does he care too much for the federal government. "Today, unpopular laws made by the federal congress and unpopular rulings made by federal courts make it difficult for us who seek to uphold our southern traditions..." But fortunately, we learn that William is not a selfish politician because, "politicians seeking selfish personal gain is an open invitation for BEATNIKS and GOONS to invade our state! Do Mississippians want these MISFITS in our midst?" (Heaven forbid!) And, he goes on to say, "The people of Mississippi want to move ahead, IN HONOR AND WITH DIGNITY..."
Ya know, some people just don't get it. As far as William Winter was concerned, the 1964 Civil Rights law and the gruesome, 1964 Philadelphia, Mississippi murders just never happened. That's why he wants to protect the rights of all the good people of Mississippi. The book ends with the last panel declaring that William is a Sunday School teacher (I can imagine what he teaches the kids!), and that he is ready to "fight for what our people know is RIGHT!" Whew! And you wonder why this was the very last political comic book that endorsed segregation?
This comic is 7" x 10" and 16-pages long, designed and ready to be mailed out to select voters throughout Mississippi. It's in great condition with sharp edges, no chips or tears, and bright colors. NM!
Important Note: William Winter lost this election for Governor. But he was not a racist or a segregationist. As my father often told me (he wrote this book and was definitely NOT a segregationist from Illinois, but he did admit to "chasing the money"), "I write what the particular politicians or industry or government agency tells me to write. And they tell me what to write based on what they THINK the reading public wants to hear. But a lot of times they go against their own values and don't believe in what they have me write." Such was the interesting case of William Winter.You see, William Winter did finally get elected Governor of Mississippi in 1980 and served until 1984. He worked relentlessly to bring equal Civil Rights to all Mississippians, and did everything humanly possible to better race relations. Later, (this is from Wikipedia) he was appointed as a member of President Clinton's Advisory Board on Racism in 1997-1998. The William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, on the University of Mississippi's Oxford Campus, is named in his honor. In March 2008, Winter was given the profile in Courage Award by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library for his work advancing education and racial reconciliation. And President Clinton described William Winter as "A Great Champion of Civil Rights."
But in this 1967 comic book, he was only telling my father what he THOUGHT the people wanted to hear, not what he really believed in himself!]
Date
1972
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