O
n July 24, members
of the Michigan
Legislature announced
the formation of the Black and
Jewish Unity Caucus at the
Michigan State Capitol.
The group was spearhead-
ed by Jewish state Sen. Jeremy
Moss, Jewish state Rep. Robert
Wittenberg, state Sen. Marshall
Bullock and state Rep. Sherry
Gay-Dagnogo.
The group has partnered
with the Coalition for Black and
Jewish Unity, an initiative of the
JCRC/AJC and the Council of
Baptist Pastors of Detroit and
Vicinity. It will serve as the coali-
tion’
s “legislative arm,
” according
to Moss and Wittenberg.
“This group came about after
a conversation I had with the
Coalition,
” Moss said. “They
were looking for a legislative arm
to not only talk about what is
needed, but actually implement
those things into law to help
combat hatred in Michigan.
”
After the conversation, Moss
reached out to Wittenberg and
then to Bullock, chairman of the
Black Caucus in the state leg-
islature, and Gay-Dagnogo,
chairwoman of the Detroit
Caucus in the legislature, during
the height of the recent Black
Lives Matter protests in June.
Immediately, all of them were
on board. But Moss said a key
moment for the caucus actual-
ly occurred earlier.
“The most defining
moment in Michigan was
April 30, the protest at the
capitol where Nazi imagery
and Confederate flags were
displayed side-by-side,
” Moss
said. “This was the time to come
together as two targeted commu-
nities to support one another and
team up and build on our efforts
to combat the type of rhetoric
that leads to hateful actions.
”
The caucus hopes to bring
more representatives into the
group, elect leadership and begin
focusing on legislation they want
to prioritize. Moss already has
two different proposals in mind.
“Representative Kyra Harris
Bolden out of Southfield has
a bill to ban Nazi imagery,
the swastika and the Confederate
flag from the Capitol grounds,
”
Moss said. “Senator Sylvia
Santana has been very forceful
in taking on the Confederate flag
because one of our colleagues
wore a Confederate flag mask
on the Senate floor. So, I would
envision that these would be
among our first priorities, so we
can really display to people who
aren’
t targeted by those imag-
es why they’
re so damaging and
why they’
re so hateful.
”
Wittenberg hopes that the
partnership with the Coalition
for Black and Jewish Unity
will “bring a lot of community
engagement and education so
that this is more than just a legis-
lative caucus.
”
“Education is also really
important. There is a lot of peo-
ple who may not understand the
issue,
” Wittenberg said. “But we
really want to get a lot of people
in this movement. We want peo-
ple to speak out when they hear
and see things that are blatantly
racist and antisemitic.
”
The caucus will also serve
as the state equivalent to
the national Congressional
Caucus for Black and Jewish
Relations, which is co-chaired
by U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence
of Southfield. Moss believes
that Lawrence’
s work is import-
ant on the national level,
but that Michigan needs a nar-
row focus to take on hate in the
local community.
“We can’
t relax and think that
these types of things happen in
history textbooks. They’
re hap-
pening right now,
” Moss said.
“The rhetoric is really heated
against both of our communities
and some people are turning
that rhetoric into targeted action
against us. It really calls on all
of us to band together and to
ensure that we are doing every-
thing we can to stop the embers
before they flame.
”
New State Caucus
Aims To Fight Hate
Michigan legislators form Black and Jewish Unity Caucus.
CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER
22 | AUGUST 6 • 2020
Jews in the D
Je s
t e
jews and racial justice
COURTESY OF MICHIGAN SENATE DEMOCRATS
Senator
Marshall
Bullock
COURTESY OF MICHIGAN HOUSE DEMOCRATS
Rep. Sherry
Gay-Dagnogo
COURTESY OF MICHIGAN SENATE DEMOCRATS
Senator
Jeremy
Moss
Rep. Robert
Wittenberg
COURTESY OF MICHIGAN HOUSE DEMOCRATS