When Fritz Hollings ‘made the turn’ as a Southern politician

Political Theater · Apr 16, 2019 · 16m

Before the late Sen. Ernest “Fritz” Hollings was elected to what would become a distinguished congressional career, the South Carolina Democrat reversed himself on the defining issue in Southern politics: segregation.

Running for governor in 1958, Hollings opposed integration of public schools, a keystone battle in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision desegregating public schools. But by the end of his term, he said it was time for the South to change, taking a step out of line with many of his Democratic colleagues in the region.

“He had made the turn, and to…