When the “Cruel Kids Table” magazine cover photo from an Inauguration Day party in Washington, D.C. went viral, Mountain Brook native, Anna Claire Howland found herself at the center of a media firestorm.
The cropped image, which appeared to show an all-white group of partygoers, quickly sparked outrage and accusations of racism.
But for Howland, the reality of that night was quite different. A senior at Southern Methodist University who graduated in December, Howland attended the party with her sister, mother, best friend and her friend’s mother.
“The five people in the photo on the left were all from my hometown of Mountain Brook, Alabama,” Howland told Yellowhammer News. “It was like a hometown reunion — we were happy to be there together. But then we’re just getting portrayed as the ‘cruel kids’ without anyone knowing anything about us.”
Howland described the party as anything but cruel.
She was initially nervous, having been invited by her friend and frequently feeling introverted in large social settings. But, she was pleasantly surprised by the welcome she received.
“Everyone was so kind, introducing themselves and making new friends,” she said. “I met 10 to 15 new people that night. It wasn’t an ‘in-crowd’ at all – the energy was just one of excitement and celebration.”
Howland rebranded the event as “The Kind Kids’ Table,” a distinction that gets to the heart of her frustration with the media’s portrayal.
“If whoever wrote that initial article had done any research or even talked to one person there, they would have seen the party in a very different light,” she said. “It was diverse, welcoming and full of young conservatives from all over the country who were just excited to be in D.C. for the inauguration.”
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Howland has found herself in the middle of an attempted smear campaign, and the prospect of having that image and label attached to her name as she prepares to apply for law school concerns her.
“My main worry was how this would affect my chances of getting into law school,” she admits. “I’ve reached out to admissions offices, family friends in the legal field, and even current law students, and the reactions have been all over the place.”
Some have assured her that the incident could actually help her application while others have warned that the photo and media attention could be difficult to overcome.
Howland hopes that by reframing the narrative, she can turn this experience into a positive one – not just for herself, but for other young conservatives who find themselves in the crosshairs of a biased media.
“This situation gives me a more realistic understanding of how the media portrays new conservatives,” Howland said. “The support that I’ve gotten from total strangers and people standing up for me, and people going out of their way to kind of reveal the truth of the party and the whole situation, to kind of save my name, gave me a new light and made me more proud to be a new conservative.”
Grace Heim is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You can follow her on X @graceeheim or email her at [email protected].
