[kgylie]

guitarslinger - "Time for people to get over the whole racism thing" Sorry if my Hispanic friend and her son are having a hard time getting over being discriminated against. She has had 7 letters dropped or mailed to her home, threatening her and her kids. Yep, she called 911 they told her nothing they could do, these people have terrorized her and her kids in the middle of the night (banging on doors and windows, ringing her doorbell, kids were afraid to go to sleep at night) many times after these episodes a letter was dropped on the doorstep threatening the family to leave or else? When your kid feels it is not safe to attend Howell High School, and leaves to go to a private school, the city and school system should be ashamed. My dear friend is doing everything she can to make these racist doornobs pay for what they have done to her and her family and I plan to help every step of the way. Someone asked why a minority would move to a town not welcoming of minority. Unfortunately they don't have a sign (though they should) that says minorities stay away. She had no idea what she was moving into.

[susieJD]

Originally Posted by kgylie

guitarslinger - "Time for people to get over the whole racism thing" Sorry if my Hispanic friend and her son are having a hard time getting over being discriminated against. She has had 7 letters dropped or mailed to her home, threatening her and her kids. Yep, she called 911 they told her nothing they could do, these people have terrorized her and her kids in the middle of the night (banging on doors and windows, ringing her doorbell, kids were afraid to go to sleep at night) many times after these episodes a letter was dropped on the doorstep threatening the family to leave or else? When your kid feels it is not safe to attend Howell High School, and leaves to go to a private school, the city and school system should be ashamed. My dear friend is doing everything she can to make these racist doornobs pay for what they have done to her and her family and I plan to help every step of the way. Someone asked why a minority would move to a town not welcoming of minority. Unfortunately they don't have a sign (though they should) that says minorities stay away. She had no idea what she was moving into.

I really don't understand this. I'm from the Howell area and still have relatives living there. We are Hungarian Romas and are dark skinned, just like Hispanics. I've been mistaken for a native American, more times than I can count. I've also been mistaken for a Hispanic. But I was never treated the way that you friend has been treated. Whenever I felt the least bit of discrimination, I'd just let it roll off my back and dismiss it as ignorance. I suggest that your friend, providing she wants to live in that area, should do the same.

Susie in MN

[kgylie]

LOL! Ok Susie I will pass on that helpful information.

[crashsite68]

I've lived in Howell since 2000 and I make it a point to investigate the history before judging a city based on the actions of a few or something that took place 39 years ago.

So here's the history...

Robert Miles
Howell has endured a reputation as a racist place due to one man. That man would be Robert Miles, pastor of the Mountain Church of Jesus Christ, Christian. The Church is also known as the Mountain Kirk Church of Jesus Christ, Christian.
There is surprisingly little biographical information available about Robert Miles. At least not in any of the mainstream research places I looked. Here are the bare bones.
Robert Miles grew up in New York City's Washington Heights, in the northern part of Manhattan. He graduated in 1940 from George Washington High School, coincidentally the same high school Henry Kissinger attended.
He was a very conservative, religious young man who planned on attending the Union Theological Seminary. It was a well-known secret, however, that the Free French Forces movement had offices above a jeweler's (Cartier to be exact) in New York City and were looking for recruits. Miles scrapped the Seminary and joined the Free French Forces.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he joined the United States Navy and finished his service in the Philippines. He married and moved to Michigan. To Cohoctah township, which is a community 12 miles north of the town of Howell, proper.

He staged rallies at the County courthouse located in Howell, thus giving Howell all the bad publicity.

In 1971, he was sent to federal prison for bombing empty school buses in Pontiac, Michigan and assault. He served six years of a ten year sentence in the federal prisons in Marion and Leavenworth. It should be noted that when he was indicted for sedition in Fort Smith in a separate incident, along with members of the Order, a.k.a. the Silent Brotherhood, he hired a Jewish attorney from Detroit for his defense. He was acquitted. Guess he wasn't that racist when his butt was on the line legally.

1971.... that was a LONG time ago. Hell, I was only 1 and most of you probably weren't even born yet!

I have neighbors of every ethnicity in my sub and we all get along great. What you have to remember is that when you live in a low income, bad area, which Howell does have a few, you will find the lowest of the low. There are more than a few trailer parks here and many of those people (not all) are just trash. There really isn't anything you can do about it except to try and not be like those people and to raise your kids with better values than picking on others that are different from you.

The current Michigan HQ lists their address as PO Box 26506, Fraser, MI 48026

So go pick on Fraser now.

[susieJD]

I was born and raised in Howell/Brighton. I remember that a mayor from the city of Detroit had a summer residents there. He was a black mayor. I used to drive by his home whenever I visited a sister. Doesn't sound too racist to me.

Susie in MN

[kgylie]

Wow, all I am doing is giving you facts folks. I am letting those of color know the truth about Howell. Can't change a fact, no matter how much you may dislike the fact. I am guessing you are both white, so what has happened to my Hispanic friend and her family is obviously something neither of you can imagine, much easier to dismiss it as a rare situation. Seems to be the theme for most of the citizens of Howell. The treatment of my friend and her family in Howell has been racist, demoralizing and scary. If you a minority and have had good experiences in Howell, be thankful, but that does not change the experience my friend and her family have had to endure.

[susieJD]

Originally Posted by kgylie

Wow, all I am doing is giving you facts folks. I am letting those of color know the truth about Howell. Can't change a fact, no matter how much you may dislike the fact. I am guessing you are both white, so what has happened to my Hispanic friend and her family is obviously something neither of you can imagine, much easier to dismiss it as a rare situation. Seems to be the theme for most of the citizens of Howell. The treatment of my friend and her family in Howell has been racist, demoralizing and scary. If you a minority and have had good experiences in Howell, be thankful, but that does not change the experience my friend and her family have had to endure.

Seems to me that all you want to do is complain. If you or your friend want change in Howell, they I suggest that you make the change. Like I've said in sooo many posts before on this thread, I am not Lilly white either. And also Coleman Young, the mayor of Detroit has or had a home in Howell. Either work towards change or move! You don't list where you live. So maybe you can move in with your friend and make the changes that you complain about.

Susie in MN

[kgylie]

I will tell my friends 14 year old son all of your thoughtful words Susie, I am sure that will make him feel better. My you are a kind person, so sad you don't reside in Livingston county anymore, you would fit in well, bummer more people like you can't find their way out of Livingston County, LOL! I hope you have a wonderful day

[jtpratt]

This is sad but entirely true. I know 20 years ago I worked for a boss who lived in Howell and had said that it was an extremely racists community. I asked him why, and he said that the main reason was because for decades in the 70's and 80's the second in command grand dragon of the nationwide US Ku Klux Klan lived there (and had a HUGE following). What you (and many from out of town) don't know is that Howell is still a very bigoted and white supremacist background community going back generations - and that's not going to change anytime soon (because it's been born and bred there).

Originally Posted by kgylie

I have a dear friend that is Hispanic and going through hell in this town. Her son had to move out of the Howell schools because of racism. It is unbelievable here and considered the norm. If anyone questions it, you are attacked! The good ole boys want to keep it lily white for as long as they can. I remarried and moved to Howell from Ann Arbor, biggest mistake of my life. Michigan has some wonderful small towns that are accepting of color, HOWELL is not one of them. The local chamber president yells from the rooftop that Howell is all about diversity, not one time has she stepped up to help those of color deal with the abuse they are getting. That would focus negative attention on Howell, so she continues to bury her head in the sand.

[Cliffie]

Originally Posted by kgylie

Wow, all I am doing is giving you facts folks. I am letting those of color know the truth about Howell. Can't change a fact, no matter how much you may dislike the fact. I am guessing you are both white, so what has happened to my Hispanic friend and her family is obviously something neither of you can imagine, much easier to dismiss it as a rare situation. Seems to be the theme for most of the citizens of Howell. The treatment of my friend and her family in Howell has been racist, demoralizing and scary. If you a minority and have had good experiences in Howell, be thankful, but that does not change the experience my friend and her family have had to endure.

Now what I don't understand is that there is a fairish pocket of Hispanic families right in Howell, and there are no similar reports of discrimination coming from that quarter. Does the family you refer to have any sense of who is sending these letters? Do they happen to be living next door to a KKK family or something? Are the kids getting crap at school from someone who might be dropping this crapola off in their box? That's the kind of information that's likely to get an investigation started. You know how unmotivated the police are -- you practically have to do the investigation for them -- in fact that's exactly what happened in my complex when we tried to bring embezzling charges against our association treasurer. "Do all the research and prove it to us with bank records and then maybe we'll write up a report and file it with the Prosecutor's Office." No folling.

One way to handle this is to do an end run around the local police constabulary and go to the state police in Brighton, who are better trained anyway. Another is to do an end run around all of 'em and call the Prosecutor's Office and ask them to demand an investigation.