DECEMBER 2 • 2021 | 5
THE NAIVETY OF
BEST INTENTIONS
For those of us on that call,
white Jewish professionals who
in our own lives had begun a
journey of anti-racist learning,
there was a sense of eagerness
and urgency about the opportu-
nity to bring our broader com-
munity and institutions into the
conversation. And so, we ambi-
tiously put a plan in place.
With a focus on centering
the voices of Jews of color, we
would invite the broader Metro
Detroit Jewish community to
an opportunity to learn more
about what was happening in
the world around us. What we
had overlooked in our hurry to
capture the moment was how
far behind we and our commu-
nity were and are in the work,
and how many assumptions we
had made in the brainstorming
of this program.
Over the course of the next
few days, we reached out to
individuals we had relationships
with to garner feedback on our
plan and solicit participation
from Jews of color locally and
nationally. The response we
received could not have been
clearer: Don’t ask us; start with
yourselves.
The feedback admittedly
was hard to swallow, but so
important. I am particular-
ly grateful to my friend and
colleague, Rebecca Steinman-
DeGroot, for her generosity of
spirit and intellect in helping us
understand our location in that
moment. Though our imme-
diate programmatic plans had
taken a back seat, the conver-
sations that had begun opened
the door to what became a year
of listening and learning, which
led to the creation of a new
unique and important initiative.
STARTING WITH
OURSELVES
In the weeks that followed,
Sarah and I met with various
individuals and stakeholders in
Detroit and around the country.
Though much was unclear at
that time, what was obvious was
that meaningful engagement
was not about the moment, but
about the work we would do in
the long run. Yes, everyone and
their rabbi was going to post
on Facebook that summer that
Black Lives Matter, but would
our community and our orga-
nizations make a real commit-
ment to cultural and systemic
change?
One of our early conver-
sations was with Dr. Andrea
Jacobs, a longtime leader and
educator in her work to help
Jewish communities become
more inclusive and equitable
spaces. Together, we began
to think about what it would
mean for organizations like
the Federation and Repair
the World Detroit to begin an
anti-racism learning journey.
While we knew there was no
one thing to do, thanks to the
hard work and determination
of Rachel Wasserman, a fellow
at Repair the World Detroit,
and with the feedback of our
friends fresh in our minds, we
launched Start Here: A Jewish
Anti-racism Learning Cohort.
Led by Dr. Jacobs, with
support from the Max M. &
Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation,
the Jewish Fund Teen Board,
the Jamie and Denise Jacob
Family Foundation and
the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, this
program brought together 17
mid-career white Jewish pro-
fessionals and lay leaders, rep-
resenting 13 area organizations,
for a seven-month learning
intensive.
WHAT WE LEARNED
The first question we inevitably
got every time we spoke about
this idea was “why just white
people?” What we know is
that while there is important
work for white and BIPOC
folks to do together, separate
affinity space gives room to
build understanding of the his-
tory of racialization in the U.S.
while increasing participants’
capacity or critical analysis
and self-awareness around the
issues of race. Additionally, and
importantly, as a response to
that initial feedback, that we
must start with ourselves and
take responsibility for our own
learning, rather than placing
that burden on BIPOC folks.
The content of our learning
provided a curricular arch that
began with the genesis of racial-
ization and the racial disparity
upon which America was con-
structed. We studied settler-co-
lonialism, anti-black racism, the
toll racism has taken on white
people, the intersections of rac-
ism and antisemitism and what
it means for Jews to be white.
Most importantly, through-
out the entire program, Dr.
Jacobs moved us toward under-
standing the ways in which we
can bring our learning home as
we work to make anti-racism
an inherent part of Jewish com-
munity infrastructure.
WHAT COMES NEXT
The truth is, I’m not sure we
totally know what comes next,
nor do I believe this work is
linear. What I hope is that the
learning we have done these
past months, and the relation-
ships we have built, provide a
framework and a foundation
to each of us in the moments
when we continue to encounter
the legacy of racism and white
supremacy acting in the Jewish
community.
I’m proud that our
Federation, through the
Hermelin Davidson Center,
created a fund to promote racial
justice programs in the com-
munity, including modest fund-
ing for a staff person at Detroit
Jews for Justice focused on
building community amongst
local Jews of color. I am grateful
for the support and leadership,
particularly of the many women
of color, who have long been
doing this work in the Jewish
community, and consistently
and benevolently give their
time and energy, all too often
without compensation.
It has been nearly 18 months
since George Floyd was mur-
dered. Our communal Twitter
feed and d’vrei Torah, briefly
ablaze with calls for racial jus-
tice, have by and large returned
to business as usual. This cycle
is not new, but what can be is a
far more impactful and quieter
commitment in the stalwart
structures and organizations of
Jewish life.
While we don’t know what’s
next, in Detroit we have chosen
to Start Here, with a serious
look at ourselves, knowing
there is still a long way to go as
we continue to work to show
up for racial justice.
Rabbi Ari Witkin is director of lead-
ership development at the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.