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.