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