 JUNE 11 • 2020 | 29

NCJW’
s May 5 webinar provided 
an update on white supremacy 
and national efforts to com-
bat racism and 
anti-Semitism. Cathy 
Cantor, NCJW state 
policy advocate, 
spoke about Women 
Confronting Racism, 
a nonprofit organi-
zation dedicated to helping white 
women examine their biases and 
privilege. 
The organization brought 5,000 
women to Detroit in 2017 for a 
conference and holds ongoing 
lectures. “We want to educate 
ourselves and others,” Cantor 
says.
Amy Spitalnick, executive 
director of Integrity First for 
America, discussed the orga-

nization’
s lawsuit against the 
leaders of Unite the Right, the 
white supremacist group that 
planned and carried out the racist 
and anti-Semitic protests and 
violence in Charlottesville, Virginia 
in 2018. 
“The case takes on the leader-
ship of these organizations, which 
could have an impact on their 
financial and legal operations. 
Many plaintiffs (Charlottesville 
community members) suffered 
serious injuries. Charlottesville 
has become a rallying cry 
and marker for many white 
Supremacists,” she explained. 
The ADL has invested 
$100,000 in the lawsuit, which 
is expected to come to trial in 
Charlottesville in October 2020.

Cathy Cantor

that anti-Semitic conspiracy 
theories related to the virus 
were already spreading in the 
pandemic’
s earliest weeks.
Sikorski says that a “rise in 
the rhetoric can lead to action 
and we are keeping our eye on 
conspiracy theories.
” However, 
Sikorski points out that most 
synagogues and other Jewish-
affiliated facilities are closed 
due to COVID-19. 
“We’
re always thinking of 
security — it’
s an ongoing 
process. We advocate aware-
ness and prevention with an 
all-hazards approach to crisis 
and emergency planning — not 
focusing on any one thing,
” 
explains Sikorski.
Spitalnick supports the 
Domestic Terrorism Prevention 
Act, which she says is stalled 
in Congress. Passage of the 

Act would counteract gaps in 
reporting of discriminatory 
acts and improve cooperation 
between levels of government, 
she says. 
While the FBI is supporting 
the fight against white suprem-
acists, the federal government 
as a whole is not, Spitalnick 
claims, as evidenced by a sharp 
decline in federal civil rights 
investigations. She also criticiz-
es social media companies for 
providing platforms for “hot-
beds of extremism” without any 
liability.
“Conspiracy theories get a 
lot of oxygen when people are 
afraid. It’
s a difficult problem 
and I don’
t see it going away. 
People have to call it out and 
challenge it. They need to assess 
where information comes 
from,
” Normandin says. 

NCJW Webinar 
Discusses 
Weaponizing White 
Supremacy during 
COVID-19

ADL

Camp Tanuga Presses On 

C

amp Tanuga, an over-
night secular camp in 
Kalkaska, Michigan, 
that draws many Jewish camp-
ers from Metro Detroit, intends 
to move forward with camp 
this summer, provided state 
guidelines for doing so are 
released, according to an email 
sent to camper families. 
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer 
signed an executive order per-
mitting day camps to open. 
Residential summer camps 
should still remain closed 
under her current order. 
The plan Camp Tanuga lays 
out includes some key changes 
in the camp’
s operations. This 
year, the camp will run only 
one five-week session from July 
11-Aug. 14. Campers have the 
option to only attend the first 
three weeks of the session. 
There will be no trips of any 
kind out of camp, and no out-
side deliveries of personal items 
or packages will be permitted. 
Mail will also be restricted. 
Campers will have to be 
symptom-free for 14 days prior 
to arrival, and Tanuga asks 
that campers stay socially dis-
tant from those outside their 
household for the two weeks 
leading up to camp. Families 
will be asked to keep a log of 
their camper’
s health during 
this time. 
“That’
s not going to be so 
easy because we know that 
kids are out not distancing 

right now as we speak prob-
ably,” Tanuga director Sid 
Friedman told the Jewish News. 
“There is, through all this, an 
element of trust… that they’
re 
going to do the right thing and 
adhere to these requirements 
before they come to camp.” 
One COVID test will be 
required of each camper two to 
three days before camp begins, 
and more tests will be per-
formed on campers within the 
first two weeks at camp. 
Friedman emphasized 
that Tanuga leadership has 
made it clear to parents and 
staff that camp will look dif-
ferent this summer if it’
s able 
to run. 
Most camper families still 
want to send their children to 
camp this summer if possible, 
Friedman said, but some fam-
ilies have decided not to have 
their kids attend this year. 
When asked what will hap-
pen if Michigan’
s residential 
summer camps are still pro-
hibited from opening in July, 
Friedman said he wasn’
t sure. 
“There is a time element. 
Camp isn’
t ‘
turn on a switch 
and we’
re open,’
” he said. “We 
need a few weeks to get the 
place ready, we have to train 
our staff with all the new pro-
tocol. And getting staff to buy 
in is a huge variable. 
“
Are we nervous about it? 
Certainly. We’
re nervous but 
we’
re optimistic,” he said. 

MAYA GOLDMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

COURTESY OF CAMP TANUGA

Camp Tanuga Presses On 

The Kalkaska-based sleepaway camp will go 
forward, pending new state guidelines.s. 

