The Guilfordian
TJk QuHfor&cm
The Gillespie Defenders!
The shameful refusal of slumlord
W.W. Horton to provide decent housing
for the tenants who occupy his infamous
shanties on Gillespie Street, is a sad
reminder that southern ante-bellum
chivalry still reigns supreme in
Greensboro.
Particularly chivalrous is Horton's
generosity in providing his tenants with...
such luxuries as cold water, out of order
toilets, and energy absorbing floors
which collapse on impact.
But even more worthy of mention is
Horton's dedication to white
paternalism. This is the virtue which
enables him to arbitrarily decide that his
tenants have no need for hot water,
bathtubs and wash basins.
Not surprisingly the presence of
Horton, a southern gentleman so
dedicated to the welfare of his subjects,
parking his Cadillac Eldorado in front of
a shanty on Gillespie Street provides a
productive setting for mistrust, fear, and
resentment.
Robert " Frazier's defense of W.W.
Horton's Gillespie Street shanties leaves
a deep almost incurable scar on the
reputation of Guilford College as an
institution of Quaker thought.
Certainly any lawyer's decision to
dedicate his keen legal mind to
circumventing North Carolina law and
turning the courts into chambers of
slumlord mockery is regrettable.
But for Frazier, president of
Guilford's Board of Trustees and long
time defender of Quaker traditions
which include a respect for human
beings as individuals and a deep sense of
social concern, the decision seems
absurd.
