3/17/14 - Some offensive comments online by Howell High School students followed the school's Boys Basketball Team Class A Region Finals victory last week. The team beat Grand Blanc on Thursday 54 to 49, the first time Howell has won the region finals in more than 80 years. However, a few Howell students not affiliated with the team took to the social media site Twitter following the game to send messages to the opposing team, pointing out the fact that Howell's team is made up of white players while Grand Blanc is predominantly African-American. Some of the tweets made reference to the KKK, cross burning, and white power. Howell Schools Director of Public Relations Thomas Gould says the messages were made by only two or three students, who were called out by the classmates for the offensiveness of their posts. Officials are looking into the exact details of the online messages, and disciplinary action may take place. Gould tells WHMI the students have already been identified and their families brought up to speed. District officials are emphasizing that this sort of attitude is not typical of Howell students, pointing out that only a small number of students posted the messages and their peers were the ones who called them out and alerted school authorities. Apologies were quickly posted by the students in question. Grand Blanc school officials said they were confident that the sentiments made in the messages were not typical of the district and that officials would handle the issue appropriately. (TD/JK)
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