24 | JUNE 11 • 2020 

every protester wore a mask. 
- Andrew Lapin

A WOODWARD CARAVAN
Folks along Woodward Avenue 
saw a different kind of cruise 
on Sunday, June 7. No muscle 
cars or roadsters revving their 
engines — just Subarus, Toyotas 
and Nissans driven by mostly 
white suburbanites, sporting 
signs like “Black Lives Matter” 
and “We Will Not be Silent.
”
The vehicles were part of 
the 250-car “Suburban Silence 
is Racist Violence Caravan” 
that drove down Woodward 
from 8 Mile to Lone Pine on 
Sunday afternoon. Several 
Jewish groups, including the 
Social Justice Committee of 
Birmingham Temple, Repair 
the World Detroit and Detroit 
Jews for Justice, were among 
the many social action groups 
supporting the event, which 
had more than 900 Facebook 
users interested, according 
to organizer Emma Green of 
Madison Heights.
One organizer of the fami-
ly-friendly event, Rich Feldman 
of Huntington Woods, has been 
working for racial equality since 
the 1960s. “I made a commit-
ment for life to transform our 

culture and society,
” he said. “It’
s 
not a moment, but a journey.
”
Robb Lippitt of Repair the 
World Detroit brought his wife, 
Debbie, and daughters Eryn, 20, 
and Molly, 22. “It’
s important 
for Jews to speak out, recogniz-
ing that we know what oppres-
sion is like and we need to do 
something about it,
” he said.
The cars slowly made their 
way down Woodward with 
hazard lights on, sticking to 
the two left lanes and honking 
in solidarity with spectators 
along the road who held their 
own “Black Lives Matter” 
signs. The procession ended 
in the parking lot of the 
Birmingham Unitarian Church 
on Woodward, where speakers 
addressed the crowd and led 
them in chants.
Noah Krasman, 25, of 
Farmington Hills, was at the 
protest with his father, Gary. 
“This speaks to our human 
values, along with our Jewish 
values,
” Noah said. “One 
informs the other.
” 
Gary added, “We are all 
God’
s creatures, and it’
s well 
beyond time people have 
started to speak out and inform 
the rest of the world.
” 
- Jackie Headapohl

ANDREW LAPIN/JEWISH NEWS
ANDREW LAPIN/JEWISH NEWS

continued from page 23

Jews in the D
jews and racial justice

Holocaust Memorial 
Center Speaks Out

In a statement, the center called to 
“extinguish fl
 ames” of hatred.

T

he Holocaust 
Memorial Center 
in Farmington 
Hills released a state-
ment urging the com-
munity to speak up 
when faced with injus-
tice. 
The center released 
the unsigned statement June 3 
in response to protests across 
the country after a Minneapolis 
police officer killed resident 
George Floyd on May 25. 
“Every day at HMC we teach 
the lessons of the Holocaust 
— that hate has terrible and 
long-lasting consequences. That 
it is not enough to stand by and 
do nothing. That every indi-
vidual, family and community 
can make a difference in our 
world. As Elie Wiesel famously 
said, ‘
I swore never to be silent 
whenever and wherever human 
beings endure suffering and 
humiliation,
’
” the statement 
reads. 
The HMC called on people 
to “extinguish [the] flames” of 
hatred. 
“How many photographs 
have we seen of bystanders 
watching passively as books 
were destroyed and synagogues 
burned during Kristallnacht?” it 
reads. “If only people had stood 
up for their Jewish neighbors, 
protested the Nuremberg laws, 
refused to buy newspapers filled 
with hate-spewing propaganda! 
Why didn’
t more people do 
something?” 
HMC wrote that they hope 
people will stand up themselves, 

and not wait for others to do it 
for them. 
“We cannot rewrite history. 
But have we learned the lessons 
of history? What will each of 
us do now, today, to ensure the 
safety of others? The safety of 
the Other?” it says. “It is not 
someone else’
s job to make it 
better. What will I do today? 
What will you?” 
In response to the Jewish News’
 
request for an interview, HMC 
provided another unsigned 
statement, sent through public 
relations firm Marx Layne and 
Company. 
“
At the Holocaust Memorial 
Center, we engage, educate 
and empower people of all 
backgrounds by teaching about 
the senseless murder of mil-
lions during the Holocaust,
” 
the second statement reads. 
“Our message is that each of 
us must respect and stand up 
for the rights of others if we 
are to prevent future genocides 
and hate crimes. We empower 
individuals to react to contem-
porary issues like the killing of 
George Floyd and the events of 
the past weeks by taking action. 
We all can be upstanders, not 
bystanders, when we see hatred 
and prejudice in our own com-
munities.
” 

MAYA GOLDMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

HMC

