Welcome to Howell (as submitted to Highestwire)

Submitted by Brian Krause-Rivera on Monday, August 01, 2005 at 09:10:25 AM EST.

Vinnie Mascola and Shayna Kamilar two of the four students who spread the love. Hi-res version of photo (100 K)

Within a year of my arrival in Livingston County, the town of Howell has peeled an unhealed scab that burst into the scene of impeccable controversy. Howell and the entire county have had a history of staunch conservatism to the point of outdated radicalism. In the 60’s until the 90’s Howell was considered the KKK capital north of the Mason-Dixie line. In the fall of 2004 an auction house displaying a less distinguished part of Howell history was the first ingredient added into the pot. The auction house was selling off a couple of KKK robes and displayed one in the front window. To make matters worse, the owner of the auction house unintentionally made the date of the auction the third Monday of February (Martin Luther King Jr. Day). By the time the auction took place the story went national, representatives from the NAACP, a few history museum reps. and what I am told were some KKK members went to the auction with over 100 protestors chanting outside. Once this controversy was finally over, Howell High Schools Diversity Club (of which I hope to become an active member) hung up a diversity flag to promote unity and acceptance. After it was stolen, parents and students protested and the issue was eventually brought up to the school board, the issue being that the flag was a rainbow and therefore a gay pride symbol.

The board unanimously agreed to keep it and added a diversity resolution. I have received word that people are currently petitioning the courts. The culmination of all this controversy reached its peak just after our production of Pippin. Our lead was openly gay and was constantly verbally assaulted before and after the show. After the last show, a couple of my friends noticed a message written on our school rock. The Rock is used as a message board for students to express themselves for birthdays and events, the message that my friends found however was much more sinister. “God hates Fags” was spray painted in orange paint over our advertisement. As an act of retaliation, my friends, 3 seniors and 1 sophomore, painted the word “Love” across the rock -- but they didn’t stop there. They ended up writing the word "love" over 100 times all over the school grounds. They were convicted for destroying school property and suspended indefinitely. A few days later I and 300+ students protested the punishment and made the news yet again. About 10 to 20 students then came outside and formed an anti-protest to which they spelled the word “straight” across their stomachs (spelled wrong I might add).

The three seniors ended up not walking for graduation and were suspended for the remainder of the school year. The sophomore was suspended for 10 days. So let us recap. Howell has been on the national news three times and on the local five times (once for football violence and the other for the satirical writing of yours truly). This coming school year will mark the beginning of an active role in the politics of the town of Howell. Being here for only a year has taught me that despite bad publicity, this town is full of good, smart, talented, hard-working people. I want to be a part of the change in this town and I hope to change it for the better.

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