20 | JANUARY 7 • 2021 

T

he City of Huntington 
Woods recently 
approved an “
Anti-
Racism Plan” as part of efforts 
to expand its commitment to 
build equity and tackle institu-
tionalized prejudice on a local 
level.
The plan, approved by the 
city commission on Oct. 14, 
comes after a statement issued 
by the heavily Jewish Detroit 
suburb June 2 condemning acts 
of racial injustice in response 
to the deaths of George Floyd, 
Breonna Taylor and others. 
Its goal, according to Mayor 
Robert Paul and city commis-
sioners, is to identify “specific 
and attainable action items.”
“It is not enough to simply 
claim we are not racist,” Paul 
said in a press release. “We 
must work toward eradicating 
fear and turmoil and ensure 
that Huntington Woods is a 
warm and welcoming city for 
all.”
“We’re going to start 
by focusing on the city of 
Huntington Woods’ practices, 
educating our staff as well as 
changing our hiring policies, 

and we’re also going to try to 
bring some education points 
to the community at the same 
time,” Paul told the JN. 
Paul believes that the plan is 
fluid and will change over time, 
with expectation it will look 
different as the years go by. 
“Hopefully it’s a much more 
robust plan in the next year 
or two, with specific plans on 

what to do and how to do it, 
and I think a lot of that is going 
to come through the education 
process as we develop and roll 
that out to learn more,” Paul 
said. 
Huntington Woods has a 
population of just over 6,000 
people, and 95% of its res-
idents are white, with the 
median household income as 
of 2018 being over $130,000. 
Commissioner Michelle Elder 
said those demographics 

played a large role in her deci-
sion to help spearhead and 
back the anti-racism plan.
“If we are going to aspire 
for diversity and inclusion, we 
have to think about a sustain-
able future in how we make 
people of color feel when 
they’re residents or visiting 
or hear about Huntington 
Woods,” Elder said.

Elder refers to the plan as a 
“framework,” and an ongoing 
commitment to continuous 
learning and self-examination.
“When we learn about these 
things and identify implemen-
tation or action items that we 
can do or adjust public policies, 
we’ll identify those opportu-
nities for change as we learn 
about it,” Elder said. “This is a 
learning process, and everyone 
is in their own phase of under-
standing systemic racism and 

its impact on different levels.”
The plan advocates for 
“reviewing and revising exist-
ing policies to make them 
more equitable and creating 
new policies and programs to 
promote an anti-racist perspec-
tive and expand opportunities 
to end institutional oppres-
sion,” according to the release.
The plan has three main 
goals: Learning & Recognition, 
Community Relations and 
Public Policy. It contains pro-
grams and initiatives to be 
carried out at City Hall, the 
public library, and in the Parks 
& Recreation and Public Safety 
departments.

ANTI-RACISM TRAINING
Possible “action items” out-
lined in the plan may include 
curating lists of anti-racist 
reading materials at the public 
library; implementing ongoing 
anti-racism training for both 
the city’s police department 
and city administration; pub-
lishing police department pol-
icies on use of force; and advo-
cating for legislation that elim-
inates excessive fees and fines 

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Huntington Woods
Approves
Anti-Racism Plan

IN 
THED
JEWS

Suburb seeks to combat institutionalized prejudice.

“IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO SIMPLY 
CLAIM WE ARE NOT RACIST.”

— MAYOR ROBERT PAUL

