Why is the Willie Horton ad considered racist?

[MavsSuperFan]

This recent ad was called racist by some
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emkbj7Q5psg

and compared to the willie horton ad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io9KMSSEZ0Y

to me nothing about the horton ad is racist in itself. it was completely factual. it never claimed dukakis passed the furlough law. it accurately claimed that dukakis fully supported the law.

[QUOTE]"Democratic Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis was the governor of Massachusetts at the time of Horton's release, and while he did not start the furlough program, he had supported it as a method of criminal rehabilitation. The State inmate furlough program was actually signed into law by Republican Governor Francis W. Sargent in 1972. However, under Sargent, convicted first-degree murderers were not eligible for furlough. After the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that this right extended to first-degree murderers, the Massachusetts legislature quickly passed a bill prohibiting furloughs for such inmates. However, in 1976, Dukakis vetoed this bill arguing it would 'cut the heart out of efforts at inmate rehabilitation'"

"On October 26, 1974, in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Horton and two accomplices robbed Joseph Fournier, a 17-year-old gas station attendant, and then fatally stabbed him 19 times after he had cooperated by handing over all of the money in the cash register. His body was dumped in a trash can. Fournier died from blood loss. Horton was convicted of murder, sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, and incarcerated at the Northeastern Correctional Center in Massachusetts.

On June 6, 1986, he was released as part of a weekend furlough program but did not return. On April 3, 1987 in Oxon Hill, Maryland, Horton twice raped a local woman after pistol-whipping, knifing, binding, and gagging her fianc

[KyrieTheFuture]

Because playing the race card is a sweet way to get what you want now

[bdreason]

I was young, but I still remember the campaign ads against Dukakis. Political ads back then were ruthless.

[NumberSix]

Political strategy.


1. Get called out for an indefensible position
2. No counterargument
3. Accuse of racism

[ace23]

What does either of these ads have to do with race?

Second one is pretty hilarious btw

[MavsSuperFan]

What does either of these ads have to do with race?

Second one is pretty hilarious btw

I dont know either, but supposedly they are controversial and racist ads.

[MavsSuperFan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmwhdDv8VrM
another attack ad on Dukakis. What were the democrats thinking when they nominated this guy SMH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF9gSyku-fc
Lost the election in 30 seconds

[Lakers Legend#32]

It was designed to scare white people.

[KevinNYC]

to me nothing about the horton ad is racist in itself.

The guy who helped come up with the Willie Horton strategy would not agree with you. He completely understood its appeal. Roger Ailes (now head of Fox News) said

"The only question," Ailes said, "is whether we depict Willie Horton with a knife in his hand or without it."

You could have made the ad without showing the criminal. That would have gone a long way to helping you say race was not the issue. In fact, Al Gore brought up the program in the primaries without mentioning the criminal at all.

Willie horton happened to be black........If Horton was white the ad would have been the same to me.

Says the young guy 26 years after the ad was run. In 1988 you had plenty of unreconstructed racists as part of the electorate. This is what Bush's campaign manager said at the time

By the time we're finished, they're going to wonder whether Willie Horton is Dukakis' running mate

This is what he said a few years before that in explaining how using racism to your political advantage had changed. Overt racism couldn't be used in politics any more but you could appeal to racists in a covert "dog whistle" way where they will be sure to hear your message without you saying it.

You start out in 1954 by saying, “******, ******, ******.” By 1968 you can’t say “******”—that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff, and you’re getting so abstract. Now, you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites.… “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “******, ******.”

Lee Atwater understood the powerful appeal of this racist ad.

You also over-estimate the rationality of people. TV, Film, Advertising play on emotions. Fear is a very powerful emotion, especially when combines with pre-existing thoughts/beliefs/fear/prejudices.

Check out this story on a black player scoring a game winning goal in the Stanley Cup.
You wouldn't think that would bring out racism either, but it did.

[NumberSix]

Keep it real. The "how will the racial angle play" discussion obviously took place. They obviously knew the "Dukakis let out black criminals" sentiment would be communicated without actually saying it.

[KevinNYC]

Also it was not an official Bush campaign ad. They knew it would be toxic.

It was done by an "independent" third party group. The ad itself was created by several people who used to work for Roger Ailes.

They also got the ad cleared for broadcast without the mugshot. They added the mugshot later.

[KevinNYC]

Keep it real. The "how will the racial angle play" discussion obviously took place. They obviously knew the "Dukakis let out black criminals" sentiment would be communicated without actually saying it.

I agree with your second sentence. I disagree with your first.

They didn't have to have that discussion. They were already steeped in the "racial angle" for years and years. Lee Atwater worked "Dixiecrat" turned Republican Strom Thurmond long before he worked for Bush. By this point the "racial angle" was instinctual.

[NumberSix]

If they were gonna bring up racial ads, I'm surprised they didn't bring up the Jesse Helms "hands" ad. Probably the most famous case.

[RidonKs]

WHO CA[COLOR="Black"]RES? WHO CARES WHY ANYTH[/COLOR]ING IS CONSIDERED RACIST???

[ace23]

They obviously knew the "Dukakis let out black criminals" sentiment would be communicated without actually saying it.

How? Because said criminal happens to black? Wtf?