JE: When you finally did speak out, you took strong exception to being referred to as "Willie" Horton. Why?
WH: The fact is, my name is not "Willie." It's part of the myth of the case. The name irks me. It was created to play on racial stereotypes: big, ugly, dumb, violent, black—"Willie." I resent that. They created a fictional character—who seemed believable, but who did not exist. They stripped me of my identity, distorted the facts and robbed me of my constitutional rights. No one deserves that.
The public does not know the real William Horton. I think I'm intelligent, sensitive, caring, and honest. I'm certainly more mature than when I was originally incarcerated. I understand myself better. I know who I am. I'm certainly wiser today. I read more, care more, feel more.
[Ed.: In the same hard-hitting interview, Horton denies having committed the murder that originally landed him in prison in Massachusetts, admits using a weekend furlough program as an opportunity to escape, denies having thereafter committed rape and assault on a young couple in Maryland, but admits he "flipped out" and stole the car in which he was eventually found.
After Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis released Horton on furlough, Tennessee Senator and future Vice President Albert Gore, a rival contender for the 1988 Democratic Presidential nomination, was the first politician to raise prison furloughs as a political issue. Thereafter the story was picked up by Republicans in what many considered to be a racially charged campaign ploy.]
