where a tiny swastika appeared in his 2018 campaign ad, and a comment on a television inter- view where James said under- represented African Americans “need to make sure that we force both parties to treat us the way they’ re genuflecting for working-class white males and for our Jewish friends. ” James’ own Jewish friends say the accusations against him are outrageous. “Never have I ever felt an ounce of antisemi- tism in John’ s body, ” Green said. James has publicly apolo- gized for the swastika incident, which he says was an oversight on behalf of his media compa- ny who used stock footage of a school hallway for the ad. “I apologize to anybody whom I may have hurt because personally that doesn’ t repre- sent me, ” he said. “The swastika is an evil symbol that only should be remembered so it never gets repeated. ” As for the genuflection comment, James, while not addressing the word’ s conno- tations, says he meant it as a compliment to the Jewish peo- ple. The Jewish community and women in particular, he says, have worked hard to hold both the Democratic and Republican parties accountable to their vote in a way he wishes the Black community would. “I think that the African American community would do well to demand the same accountability from our politi- cians, ” he said. ON BLM AND ANTISEMITISM Donald Trump’ s pro-Israel pol- icies do not take precedent over domestic security for a number of Jewish voters. Many are concerned with the president’ s alleged stoking of antisemi- tism by failing to forthrightly condemn far-right extremist groups. The James campaign has seen its own share of criticism in this field. In late August, members of the far-right group Proud Boys, which has been linked to antisemitic activity, volunteered at a James cam- paign event in Antrim County. “I can’ t speak for President Trump, nor will I try, ” James said. “But I will speak for myself that I hate bigotry in all of its forms. ” The president has offered his “total and complete” endorse- ment for James. But Trump has also called the Black Lives Matter organization “bad for Black people. ” James said, “Of course I believe that Black lives matter. I’ m a Black man. ” But he says the Black Lives Matter move- ment has been “hijacked by leftists. ” “I do not believe that it hon- ors the sacrifices of the civil rights leaders who came before us nor does it shed a positive light on George Floyd’ s death, ” he said. In a statement from his campaign, James said that as a Black man and officer, he understands both sides of the debate. To the public, he has denounced proposals to defund police departments and says he supports “increased training and increased transparency. ” Regardless of the current movement’ s goals, James says Jewish people have been marching beside African Americans in the fight for equality since the civil rights era. As the nation experiences antisemitic and racial violence once again, the communities are only becoming closer, he believes. James says he plans on using every platform available to pro- mote these words of unity. “I think that’ s a message that will hopefully resonate with all communities, especially the Jewish community, ” he said. OCTOBER 15 • 2020 | 15 Explore your options with a Whether you are signing up for health insurance for the first time, or want to review your existing plan, the navigators at Jewish Family Service will help you enroll through the Healthcare Marketplace or through Medicaid. FREE and OPEN to all community members! To schedule an appointment, contact Olga Semenova at 248.592.2662 or osemenova@jfsdetroit.org. Open enrollment runs from November 1 to December 15, 2020 Let us help you