[YAZ]

Long time Livingston County resident checking in.....

And I'm gonna disspell some myths.

The KKK NEVER had HQ in Howell. The "pastor" Robert Miles did live in Cohoctah, held Klan rallies on his property, and had a few followers that lived in the area.

There have been some racial crimes over the years, but it was just punks burning crosses in some unfortunate folks' yards. And they were all caught and prosecuted.

Probably the biggest "news" coming out of the area was the case of the black State Trooper that was beat up in a bar parking lot in Brighton. Some 'lil punks didn't think it was right for him to be dancing with a white girl.

Thank goodness they were caught, and the city closed the bar. There were fights there weekly though, that was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

Hardly a trend compared to other parts of the country.



Drive 15 or 20 miles east to your job and you'll hear things like "honky", "whitey" and "cracker".

[Lindseyup67]

Wouldn't this be the same as a white kid having to go to a school in downtown Detroit?? Like it or not, racism is alive and well!!!!!! Glad I live in Gods country (the U.P.) where we don't have to worry about crime and crap!!!!!!!!!! Bring on the snow...keeps the rif raf out!!!!

[hey teach]

I have read every post on this thread. Some of the posts I am appalled by and some I found laughable.

I live in the south, Alabama to be specific. As southerners, we are accused of racism so much, that we seem to be immune to the problem. We have lot of "transplants" here from all over the U.S. and when people move here, they always talk about how racist the south is.

This thread shows that racism is still alive and healthy is many parts of our country in all regions. How sad for U.S. citizens that we cannot seem to rise above this.

[Cliffie]

Originally Posted by hey teach

I have read every post on this thread. Some of the posts I am appalled by and some I found laughable.

I live in the south, Alabama to be specific. As southerners, we are accused of racism so much, that we seem to be immune to the problem. We have lot of "transplants" here from all over the U.S. and when people move here, they always talk about how racist the south is.

This thread shows that racism is still alive and healthy is many parts of our country in all regions. How sad for U.S. citizens that we cannot seem to rise above this.

For some reason Michigan is especially horrible in this department. When I was growing up, metro Detroit was one of the most segregated places to be found anywhere in the country. I'm sorry to say that is not changing as fast as one would like.

[Thatshwatithought1]

I love Howell! I've been living here for almost 5 years and before I bought my home last year I lived in the Pine Hill Apartment Complex. I had black and Hispanic neighbors and they loved this city as well. My brothers children are in school here and my newphews best friend is mixed! They walk over here after school to play pool and video gamest and I've never heard him complain of racism.

But the bottom line is this. Anywhere in this world where 1 race outnumbers others there will be friction. The arogance in society today can not prevent this.
I lived in Farmington Hills and went to a very cultural school were I was looked down upon because I was white. My best friend grew up in a mostly hispanic part of Detroit, was 1 of only 2 white girls in her class and was bullied and beated up because she was white. I have friends from all over the country and can say the same kinds of things.

But all in all Howell is a very nice community, with a low crime rate, and I hope it stays that way.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Lindseyup67

Wouldn't this be the same as a white kid having to go to a school in downtown Detroit?? Like it or not, racism is alive and well!!!!!! Glad I live in Gods country (the U.P.) where we don't have to worry about crime and crap!!!!!!!!!! Bring on the snow...keeps the rif raf out!!!!

[delayed]

After reading through this thread I am left with a question in my head that perhaps some one can answer logically instead of emotionally. What is wrong with a town being intolerant of change? Generations of people have it one way for so long and then all of a sudden for whatever reason someone decides it can't be this way anymore and so they force this "progressive" change upon people who don't want it. Is your cause so important to you that you would rather be made to feel uncomfortable in your own skin to prove some point, then to just stay away? I am perplexed by the reasoning here. I am now going to get very specific instead of speaking in general analogy. If a town is a "white" town, what makes a minority want to move there? To me it seems like they are asking for the type of treatment the op is experiencing.

Do you want to be that first one, the first minority to break the generational cycle of intolerance? Your cause is a futile as it is noble. Just because someone thinks this is the way it should be, doesn't mean that the rest of the population will, or has to agree with you.

So what is it that drives a black family to move to a white neighborhood? Are there no black neighborhoods they would want to live in? Is it a badge of success? Why? I thought we were all equal... no? I just want someone to help me to understand the drive behind this phenomena. I as a white European would never one day decide, "You know what? I'm tired of my white neighborhood. I'm moving to a black, mexican, asian, muslim..etc neighborhood" Also, on that note, I would never look at a ethnic minority neighborhood and think to myself, "You know what? They need to be more tolerant of white people in their neighborhood, I'm packing up my family and moving us right into the center of it and putting my children in their schools." No. I would expect the slanderous activity the op described experiencing in Howell. Mexican Town, China Town, Greek Town, Middle Eastern Town... White Town? OUT OF THE QUESTION!

Help me understand.

Ryan

[magellan]

Originally Posted by delayed

After reading through this thread I am left with a question in my head that perhaps some one can answer logically instead of emotionally. What is wrong with a town being intolerant of change? Generations of people have it one way for so long and then all of a sudden for whatever reason someone decides it can't be this way anymore and so they force this "progressive" change upon people who don't want it. Is your cause so important to you that you would rather be made to feel uncomfortable in your own skin to prove some point, then to just stay away? I am perplexed by the reasoning here. I am now going to get very specific instead of speaking in general analogy. If a town is a "white" town, what makes a minority want to move there? To me it seems like they are asking for the type of treatment the op is experiencing.

Do you want to be that first one, the first minority to break the generational cycle of intolerance? Your cause is a futile as it is noble. Just because someone thinks this is the way it should be, doesn't mean that the rest of the population will, or has to agree with you.

So what is it that drives a black family to move to a white neighborhood? Are there no black neighborhoods they would want to live in? Is it a badge of success? Why? I thought we were all equal... no? I just want someone to help me to understand the drive behind this phenomena. I as a white European would never one day decide, "You know what? I'm tired of my white neighborhood. I'm moving to a black, mexican, asian, muslim..etc neighborhood" Also, on that note, I would never look at a ethnic minority neighborhood and think to myself, "You know what? They need to be more tolerant of white people in their neighborhood, I'm packing up my family and moving us right into the center of it and putting my children in their schools." No. I would expect the slanderous activity the op described experiencing in Howell. Mexican Town, China Town, Greek Town, Middle Eastern Town... White Town? OUT OF THE QUESTION!

Help me understand.

Ryan

Go buy yourself a copy of the U.S. Constitution. HTH.

(fired and publicly flogged)

[delayed]

I know the Constitution very well my friend, better than most. Just in case I don't know it as well as I thought I did though, could you point me to the article that describes why one group of people would rather risk the aforementioned to live with unlike people, than stick with their own? I'm having a hard time pulling that one out of the memory bank.

Something tells me you were unable to keep from mixing emotional knee jerking with logical thinking. It's ok, most people these days can't.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by delayed

I know the Constitution very well my friend, better than most. Just in case I don't know it as well as I thought I did though, could you point me to the article that describes why one group of people would rather risk the aforementioned to live with unlike people, than stick with their own? I'm having a hard time pulling that one out of the memory bank.

Something tells me you were unable to keep from mixing emotional knee jerking with logical thinking. It's ok, most people these days can't.

First, not your friend. Secondly, I'm pretty sure the constitution provides for the protection of life and property. Thirdly, segmenting groups into "like people" and "unlike people" to me seems pretty emotional, based solely on arbitrary judgments of culture and skin pigment differences rather than on any kind of scientific basis. If you want to pull out ASTM testing methodology and start testing skin color, than I might buy your argument. Also, if you want to get scientific and not emotional, explain to me how you would devise a timeline as to who was "first" in a community vs. who are newcomers. What would be your baseline? Would there just be ONE person who is "first" and they control all laws of that land? Seems to me it would rely a lot on feel good community comradery moreso than legal land holdings. Besides, wouldn't the American Indians lay claim to being first? Any kind of logical answer would suffice.

Plus, just because YOU want to live in a monoculture does not mean that everyone does, or that we should put something in place to set up official boundaries. Harassment of property owners based on the color of their skin is illegal and protected by the Federal Government (for good reason).