# Why was the Willie Horton ad racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 18, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881 "2004-10-18T19:32:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/41 "2004-10-20T16:45:22Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > As are any positive effects you fail to mention. Indeed. Not that I support the concept of furloughs for violent criminals (I don’t), but there does appear to be evidence that there were some benefits to the program overall. > [@](#): > > [http://www.bop.gov/orepg/oreprrecid87.pdf](http://www.bop.gov/orepg/oreprrecid87.pdf) > > Recidivism Among Federal Prisoners Released in 1987 > > Miles D. Harer Ph.D. > Research Analyst > > Federal Bureau of Prisons > Office of Research and Evaluation > Washington, DC > > **Recidivism rates were lower among inmates who received a social furlough while in prison than among those who did not.** Of the 302 persons (25.1 percent) in the sample who received at least one social furlough during their prison term, 19.5 percent recidivated, compared to 47.8 percent of persons receiving no social furloughs. > > \ > > Social Furloughs > > Table 14 displays the number of releasees in the sample who did or did not receive a social furlough during their prison term and associated recidivism rates. **We see a dramatic difference between the recidivism rates of these two groups** ; 19.5 percent recidivated among those receiving a social furlough, compared to 47.8 percent among those who did not. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/42 "2004-10-20T16:51:45Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Can I have a book of these “codewords,” please? From the “establishment” – Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting: “It’s clear that “suburban,” as used by the New York Post, is a barely veiled code word for “white.”” [cite.](http://www.fair.org/extra/best-of-extra/nypost-militant-white.html) To the “anti-establishment” – George Clinton: “God bless Chocolate City and its vanilla suburbs.” (speaking of DC, by the way.) Face it: “suburban” is frequently used as a code word for white. I know you’d prefer to rely on its literal meaning, but there are those race baiters who are perhaps are too personally embarassed to actually use the term “white” when that is what they obviously mean, given the context. Imagine that: folks in politics not being forthright with their choice of words. Now I’ve seen everything! > [@Mr. Moto](#): > > Nobody forced him to look unkempt, and scowl at the camera during the mug shot. Actually, while Googling, I came across this: > [@](#): > > Playboy Magazine interviewed Horton as he sat in prison in 1989. According to Horton, while he recovered in the hospital, the police guarded him closely for 20 days. During that time he was not allowed to shower or change regularily. This mug shot of a tired, unshaven and scary looking Horton eventually was seen by the masses. Horton would even agree that the mug shot was repelling. In the Playboy interview previously mentioned, Horton commented on the mug shot, saying “Hell, I agree with you, that picture would have scared the shit out of me, too. It was horrible, really horrible. It makes me look incredibly evil.” That’s no defense of Horton and what he did, but you did remind me of it. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/43 "2004-10-20T17:26:41Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Look, the challenge is simple. Was there a better candidate for the attack ads than Horton? Was there another Massachusetts criminal of another race whose crimes on furlough during the Dukakis administration were worse than Horton’s? If so, I willingly concede racism in the Horton ads. If not, I don’t. It’s that simple. I found a similar case, although admittedly not a worse one. Surprisingly, I found it on a site that is extremely– > [@](#): > > to say the least –critical of Dukakis: > [@](#): > > - Variations of (Horton’s) story were repeated on several occasions in Massachusetts. Confessed rapist John Zukoski, who had brutally beaten and murdered a 44 year-old woman in 1970, became eligible for furloughs and was eventually paroled in 1986. A few months later he was arrested and indicted yet again for beating and raping a woman. True, Zukoski didn’t commit the crime while on furlough, but he wasn’t exactly a shining light for the furlough program. Zukoski could have made almost as good a reason for ending furloughs for violent offenders. I haven’t been able to further research the site’s claim that Horton’s “story” had been “repeated on several occasions in Massachusetts.” My version of Lexis-Nexis only carries the _Boston Globe_ back to about 1988. Without Findlaw or something similar I can’t supply many more stories than that of Zukoski. Still, it’s interesting that the site implies that “several” other furloughed prisoners–some of whom, like Zukoski, may have been white–committed crimes similar to that of Horton. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/44 "2004-10-20T17:27:56Z")
Oh, bloody hell. So much for my coding skills. [Here’s that link.](http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0158_Dukakis__Willie_Hort.html) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/45 "2004-10-20T17:51:57Z")
How about the _Lawrence Eagle-Tribune_, **Duke**? [Cite:](http://staff.wcasd.k12.pa.us/teachers/tswift/About%20me.htm) > [@](#): > > The Massachusetts furlough program gained its first notoriety through a local newspaper, the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, which covered the Merrimack River Valley in Massachusetts. For its coverage, which has been described as despicable by analysts who have since reviewed it, the paper won a Pulitzer Prize. Its coverage has not been without valid criticism. The approach and manner by which the paper handled itself and stories has led observers to the conclusion that its content was not objective. The Eagle-Tribune demoralized Horton, calling him a cold-blooded killer, and made no effort to represent an opposing argument defending the furlough program. > > The Eagle-Tribune’s biased anti-furlough slant began the onslaught of those attacking Dukakis as the father of the program. However, if the paper had reported a more even-keeled analysis of the story, perhaps the intensity of the criticism of Dukakis would have been diminished. After Horton was arrested in Maryland, the paper, petitioning to ban certain furloughs, dedicated several front-page stories to the sexual mutilations committed by him on the body of Joseph Fournier after murdering him. However, these allegations are questionable. An autopsy of Fournier reported that he had only been stabbed above the waist and that no damage was done below the waist. The paper finally recognized this at the end of a nineteen paragraph story. There is also some doubt as to whether it was Horton who did the killing of Fournier. Horton was convicted of murder with two other men. During the trial two key witnesses testified that the other defendant killed Fournier. In fact, one of the defendants confessed to the killing of Joseph Fournier, but the confession had to be disregarded because he had not been read his Miranda Rights. The court never decided which one was responsible for actually stabbing Joseph Fournier. However, the paper recognized that accusing William Horton of being a cold-blooded killer helped incite public alarm over the furlough program. Interestingly, even if Massachusetts had a death penalty provision, it would not have been applicable to his case. In Enmund v. Florida [458 U.S. 782, 797 (1982)], the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty exercised on an accessory to a murder violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on disproportionate punishment. Dunno how well the author’s claims against the paper are; FAIR didn’t exist in 1988. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/46 "2004-10-20T17:54:17Z")
well-_supported_, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/47 "2004-10-20T18:26:00Z")
L-N Development only has the _Eagle-Tribune_ going back as far as 1990, so no luck there either. 1988 with the _Boston Globe_ is as far as I can go back, and even for that year L-N hasn’t loaded in all of the stories. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/48 "2004-10-20T18:37:54Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > I found a similar case, although admittedly not a worse one. Surprisingly, I found it on a site that is extremely----critical of Dukakis: > True, Zukoski didn’t commit the crime while on furlough, but he wasn’t exactly a shining light for the furlough program. Zukoski could have made almost as good a reason for ending furloughs for violent offenders. Since the crime was not committed on furlough, and didn’t involve a death, Zukosi was simply not as a good a choice as Horton. As you acknowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/49 "2004-10-20T18:55:07Z")
A semi-hijack, but I thought it was interesting. During my lunch-time research (yeah, I know, I should get out more) I saw more than one claim that “over 80 violent offenders” went AWOL on the Massachusetts furlough program during Dukakis’ governorship. None of these same cites, though, made any mention of offenses committed by these criminals on the lam (other than those by Horton and Zukoski). OTOH, I did find two L-N cites of furlough-jumpers from Massachusetts who apparently stayed out of trouble during their time on the run. One guy went to California and started a family, even taking time out to appear as an extra in the film _Colors_. The other next resurfaced in appeals courts, appealing his original conviction (he probably would have been better off just staying on the lam, as at the minimum he would have had escape charges to face). Still though, I wouldn’t say that Horton was the _only_ furloughed offender to get in Big Trouble. Sure, he’s the only one that’s talked about now, and in the _Boston Globe_, and was the proximate cause of Dukakis’ ending of the furlough program. But without the _Eagle-Tribune_’s series of articles, I don’t know how long Horton would have retained media attention. We’ve got violent offenders up here in da Falls–I can’t remember any of their names, unless I went to Lexis. Without the same, I can’t answer for Horton. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/50 "2004-10-20T18:57:45Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Since the crime was not committed on furlough, and didn’t involve a death, Zukosi was simply not as a good a choice as Horton. > > As you acknowledge. Is it possible there weren’t any choices besides Horton? Thus negating the whole point of the ad in the first place, except as a play to racist fears. I mean, **Shayna’s** link states that 302 people received furloughs, and as far as anyone can find, Horton’s the only one who committed a crime while on that leave. Now, I think furloughs are a bad idea, but that doesn’t seem too outrageous a failure rate. We’re really just arguing hypotheticals now. If the words of the people who conceived of and created the ad aren’t enough evidence, then nothing is. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/51 "2004-10-20T19:13:56Z")
> [@jk1245](#): > > We’re really just arguing hypotheticals now. If the words of the people who conceived of and created the ad aren’t enough evidence, then nothing is. Actually, as I pointed out, there is potentially conclusive evidence: the existence of a worse criminal, white, than Horton was. So it’s rather disingenuous to say that “nothing is” good enough evidence. Even if I concede an underlying racist motivation in the creators of the Horton ad, my point is that, OBJECTIVELY, there is sufficient independent race-neutral rationale to choose Horton as the poster boy for why furloughs are a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/52 "2004-10-20T22:16:29Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Since the crime was not committed on furlough, and didn’t involve a death, Zukosi was simply not as a good a choice as Horton. > > As you acknowledge. Horton’s crime while on furlough [didn’t involve a death](http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Willie%20Horton), either. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/53 "2004-10-20T22:26:53Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Horton’s crime while on furlough [didn’t involve a death](http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Willie%20Horton), either. Correct you are. My bad - I confused the death for which Mr. Horton was initially imprisoned with the crime he committed while on furlough. I amend my comment to: Since the crime was not committed while escaped from furlough, and didn’t involve punching, pistol-whipping, stabbing, and kicking a man and raping the man’s fiancee, Zukosi was simply not as a good a choice as Horton. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/54 "2016-10-16T20:53:33Z")
Wow; so many chips, so many shoulders. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/55 "2016-10-16T21:50:38Z")
I use a C-cell battery. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881/56 "2016-10-17T00:12:55Z")
I am guessing that this was re-opened in response to the creation of [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=807341). We do not need two; I am closing this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-willie-horton-ad-racist/269881.md?page=2)