Thread 👇
In 1969, when Raphael Warnock was born, the Georgia governor was Lester Maddox, who became famous for chasing away at gunpoint three Black seminary students coming to his chicken restaurant in 1964—after the Civil Rights Act.
Martin Luther King Jr. was very upset when Maddox won the race for governor in 1966. The Klu Klux Klan had supported Maddox. A Baptist (like King), Maddox believed segregation was "Christian and American." He did not allow King's body to lie in state at the State Capitol in 1968.
Bob Jones University gave him an honorary doctorate in 1969.
Maddox was born in 1915 and died in 2003. My Grandma was also born in 1915 and is still alive at 105.
Stacey Abrams lost by 1.4% in the 2018 Georgia governor's race. She helped Warnock win the Senate seat in 2021.
Stacey Abrams
Truett McConnell University president.
Baptist Convention of the State of Georgia.
Originally tweeted by Andy Rowell (@AndyRowell) on January 8, 2021.