For Maddox and his supporters, however, “moving backward” was not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed, Maddox embraced the label, claiming he stood for a return to traditional values of segregation, free enterprise, and law and order. “Will we move BACKWARD TO HONOR, DECENCY, AND GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE in ATLANTA,” he asked in a newspaper ad, “or will we move FORWARD to forced racial integration and amalgamation of the races?”
