Weird stuff in the mail
Guilford County commissioner Melvin "Skip" Alston says he received something strange in the mail recently.
It was an envelope addressed to county school board member Amos Quick that had been labeled "return to sender" by the post office (the address for Quick was incorrect). In the space for the return address were Alston's name and home address.
When he opened the envelope, he found some really odd stuff, especially if you know anything about Alston, an active member of the NAACP who says racism played a big part in the firing of Guilford's first black county manager on June 29.
Inside were copies of these two letters to the editor criticizing recent statements by black leaders. Also inside was an unsigned missive (using some language not fit for this family blog), that basically accuses blacks of hypocrisy on racial matters.
It ends with a question: "Why is it that only whites can be racists?"
Alston sent copies of the letters and the envelope to the county clerk's office, and he sent this memo to his fellow commissioners:
"I am writing in regards to some offensive material that was sent to various local elected officials on July 24th using my name and return address. It appears that someone has used my name to send out the material in an attempt to lend credibility to this individual's distorted views. Please let me make clear that this was not sent by me or anyone in my family. I have just been made aware of this letter and I apologize for any confusion this regrettable situation may have caused."
When asked about the letter this week, Alston said he'd just assumed that other officials were sent the same information because the letter was intended for Quick.
"I just got upset because it was sent under my return address," he said. "I didn’t want people saying, 'What’s up with Skip sending out stuff like this?'"
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