"As Clemson's founder, Tillman seemed to represent the very 'white savage' that he described in his speeches. Volatile, uncouth, missing an eye, and clad in unfashionable clothes, Tillman was easily seen as the embodiment of the Southern "poor white," a man with hatred for "the negro" flowing in his veins. Tillman represented an ignorant, intolerant white South that had seized the reins of power from a more cautious elite that, whatever its faults, had sought peace through compromise and accommodation." - Stephen Kantrowitz, Ben Tillman and the Reconstruction of White Supremacy
"As Clemson's founder, Tillman seemed to represent the very 'white savage' that he described in his speeches. Volatile, uncouth, missing an eye, and clad in unfashionable clothes, Tillman was easily seen as the embodiment of the Southern "poor white," a man with hatred for "the negro" flowing in his veins. Tillman represented an ignorant, intolerant white South that had seized the reins of power from a more cautious elite that, whatever its faults, had sought peace through compromise and accommodation." - Stephen Kantrowitz, Ben Tillman and the Reconstruction of White Supremacy
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