The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
 4 — Monday, August 31, 2020 

Thousands protest police 
brutality across Michigan

CLAIRE HAO & CALDER 

LEWIS

Daily News Editor and Summer 

News Editor

Last weekend, The Michigan 

Daily reporters went to 11 
different protests, driving 269 
miles and speaking to almost 
100 people in 10 cities about 
why they came out. Some said it 
was their first time protesting. 
Many more said they were used 
to protests in big cities, but 
they never expected protests 
of this magnitude — or even 
protests in general — in their 
suburban hometowns. When 
asked if not before, why now, 
almost everyone had the same 
answer: People are tired, and 
they want change. 

This article is the first 

installment 
of 
a 
four-part 

series 
on 
police 
brutality 

protests across Metro Detroit 
over the weekend of June 6 and 
7. Check back at michigandaily.
com this week for parts two, 
three and four. 

It was a sight many said 

they thought they’d never see. 

Ulysses Wright and Charlie 

Evans were working at the 
Hungry Howie’s in Ferndale 
on Saturday afternoon when 
thousands started flooding 
past their storefront window, 
marching in protest of police 
brutality. 
The 
two 
went 

outside to take in the sight, 
which left them speechless 
and nearly moved Wright to 
tears. Wright said the crowd 
meant so much to him because 
he is a Black man in America, 
but also because he has never 
seen people come together 
like this.

“It makes me want to cry, 

like you don’t really care 
about anything else in the 
world,” Wright said. “I think 
the world kind of stopped 
for me, and I’ve never had 
that feeling. There was no 
existence except taking it all 
in. It’s hard to put it in words, 
because that’s just cheapening 
it. It was like literally if God 
himself came to show us he 
was God, that was it.”

Over the weekend, tens 

of thousands wore masks to 
march in suburbs throughout 
Metro Detroit against police 
brutality, 
joining 
millions 

across the country and around 
the world in wave after wave 
of protests sparked by the 
killing of George Floyd.

Throughout the latter half 

of the 1900s, the growth of 
the suburbs often came at 
Detroit’s expense, as capital 
and white residents moved 
out of the city in droves 
while Black residents were 
prevented 
from 
following. 

To this day, Detroit is unique 
among 
other 
metropolitan 

hubs across the country in 
that much of the wealth is 
concentrated in its outlying 
suburbs rather than in the 
city itself. 

The 
majority 
of 
those 

arrested in the first several 
days 
of 
Detroit’s 
protests 

lived in the suburbs. Through 
the 
week, 
protests 
began 

spreading 
to 
Detroit’s 

suburbs, many of which are 
predominantly white. 

According 
to 
Sterling 

Heights 
resident 
Megan 

Williams, her ancestors had 
been slaves and her mother 
had 
walked 
with 
Martin 

Luther King Jr. She marched 
in 
her 
very 
first 
protest 

in 
Ferndale 
on 
Saturday 

afternoon.

“We don’t want to repeat 

cycles,” Williams said. “I 
refuse to birth a child into a 
world where they have to do 
any more than us.”

Below are some of the 

protesters 
from 
Saturday 

on their experiences with 
racism and what this current 
moment means to them. You 
can read more from protesters 
on Saturday in Part Two of 
this series coming soon. 

12 p.m. - Bloomfield Hills 

- 82.3 percent white and 2.21 

percent Black - $187k median 
household income

Despite its small size, the 

group of about 20 people 
standing 
in 
front 
of 
the 

Bloomfield 
Hills 
police 

station was hard to miss. They 
held signs condemning police 
brutality as some cars driving 
by honked in support.

Southfield residents Nate 

and Tamika Taylor brought 
their 
two 
young 
sons 
to 

protest 
along 
Long 
Lake 

Road. Both said they were out 
to push for a better world for 
their kids.

“We just thought it was 

disheartening in today’s age 
when you see an African-
American male lose his life on 
television,” Nate Taylor said. 
“That’s something I didn’t 
want to show my boys, but it’s 
something that they need to 
know goes on in this world. 
We just want to make sure 
they’re treated fairly as they 
grow and progress into young, 
African-American men.”

Berkley 
resident 
Starr 

Bialk, 
a 
University 
of 

Michigan 
alum, 
said 
she 

thought the roadside protest 
was 
important 
because 

even 
a 
small 
number 
of 

people showing up is visible. 
According to Bialk, because 
Bloomfield Hills is a “really 
white, upper-class part of the 
area,” it felt to her like one of 
the more important places to 
bring the Black Lives Matter 
message.

“If people aren’t here, it’s 

maybe easier for people to 
avoid it, if they don’t want to 
be a part of it,” Bialk said. “If 
you bring it to them instead, it 

shows them they can’t avoid 
it. It’s everywhere and it’s 
happening.”

2 p.m. - Southfield - 22.8 

percent 
white 
and 
70.3 

percent Black - $54k median 
household income

A few hundred protesters 

met in Southfield at Hope 
United 
Methodist 
Church 

before marching down Civic 
Center Drive.

Detroit Resident Ronisha 

Bannerman 
said 
the 

Southfield protest was more 
soothing than the ones she had 
attended in Detroit. 

“Those 
(Detroit 
protests) 

were rowdy, more upbeat,” 
Bannerman said. “This one 
was more chill, and I really 
appreciated that. There was 
gospel music playing, and it 
was really calming for me. The 
one downtown had me really 
pumped up, this one was more 
laidback. It was what I needed 
today.”

Southfield 
resident 
Myra 

Gracey, a retired Detroit police 
officer, 
participated 
in 
the 

march because she wants to 
see more reform, training and 
professional development in 
police departments. She said 
high-profile police killings like 
George Floyd’s are not lost on 
officers.

“Being 
a 
retired 
police 

officer, 
what 
happened 

probably 
affected 
us 
more 

mentally than others, because 
we all have the job to protect 
people,” Gracey said. “Killing 
people with our hands is very 

upsetting and disappointing.” 

Royal Oak resident Erika 

Swilley said she thought it was 
important to have protests in 
the suburbs to challenge all 
the police departments in the 
different neighborhoods. To 
her, taking a stance by coming 
to Southfield’s protest was an 
opportunity to not only talk the 
talk but also to literally walk 
the walk.

“(The protest) was just a 

reflection of what our country 
can be,” Swilley said. “People of 
all ethnicities coming together 
for one common goal.”

2 p.m. - Royal Oak - 90.2 

percent white and 3.7 percent 
Black - $79k median household 
income 

The 
predominantly 
white 

protesters walked in circles 
under hanging flower baskets 
on Main Street from 11 Mile 
Road to Fifth Street, before 
marching down and closing a 
portion of 11 Mile Road. 

One 
protester, 
Detroit 

resident Karl Jackson, is a 
combat 
veteran 
who 
was 

deployed in 2013 and now back 
in civilian life. He said fighting 
for his country is one of the 
greatest things an American 
can do.

“Now, I’m fighting for my 

life as a Black man, and for 
my people here,” Jackson said. 
“We’re all Americans. When 
one of us hurts, we all hurt.”

Growing up as a boy in 

Detroit, Jackson said he knew 
not to go past certain suburbs at 
a certain time. Jackson likened 
the protective measures he has 
to take to his experience as a 
soldier.

“You may not have to take 

certain 
precautions 
driving, 

but as a Black man today I 
have to. You know, I have a 
veteran status on my license,” 
Jackson said. “I keep my phone 
positioned on the camera just 
in case. I keep my wallet where 
it’s visible. Those things are 
just like me being a soldier. I 
have to prepare myself, you 
never know.”

As a soldier, Jackson said 

he defended everybody’s First 
Amendment rights, whether 
he agreed with them or not. 
When 
asked 
his 
thoughts 

on former NFL player Colin 
Kaepernick’s controversial act 
of taking a knee in 2016 during 
the national anthem to protest 
police brutality, Jackson said 
the national anthem represents 
something “totally different” 
to him.

“As a Black soldier or a Black 

veteran, when I looked and saw 
what Colin Kaepernick did, I 
wasn’t looking at the fact that 
he was protesting the military,” 
Jackson said. “It was him using 
his right, which is what I raised 
my hand and defended the 
Constitution up to my life for.”

Among the stream of people 

in street clothes walking by, it 
was hard to miss the 20 doctors 
and medical students marching 
in their scrubs and white coats 
holding a sign that said “White 
Coats for Black Lives.” Many 
of them were from the family 
medicine unit at the Henry 
Ford hospital in Detroit. Those 
interviewed said they wanted 
to stand with and show their 
support for the community that 
they serve, one that is largely 
Black. 

Dr. Alicia Steele is a part 

of the inaugural class of the 
Wayne State University Urban 
Track in Family 

Medicine residency, and she 

is working to address health 
inequities and lack of access 
to health care for Detroit’s 
minority 
communities. 
She 

said every institution can have 
systemic racism and violence, 
specifically pointing to the 
disproportionate burden of 
COVID-19 
on 
Michigan’s 

Black community. 

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

UMich community battles 
anti-Asian discrimination

FRANCESCA DUONG

Summer Managing News Editor

During the early days of 

the 
COVID-19 
pandemic, 

Mary Rose, program manager 
in the Office of Diversity, 
Equity and Inclusion at the 
University of Michigan, felt 
her uneasiness grow about 
her public perception as she 
took her son to their local 
urgent care clinic. 

“I 
remember 
purposely 

wearing my Michigan t-shirt 
underneath my big winter 
coat,” Rose said. “As soon as I 
got inside I unzipped it. I felt 
like I had to consciously make 
an effort to indicate that I was 
not a recent immigrant, that I 
did not just come here off a 
plane from anywhere — I am a 
part of this community.”

Rose noted her thoughts 

were 
fueled 
by 
social 

media 
and 
reports 
of 

Asian 
Americans 
being 

discriminated 
against 
and 

said sometimes she hesitates 
to go out by herself. 

“I weigh in my mind, ‘Is 

there a chance that I let my 
guard down and I go out and 
somebody might harass me, 
or do something, and I might 
not be with my family?’” Rose 
said.

Melissa 
Borja, 
assistant 

professor 
of 
American 

culture, said she sometimes 
gets 
nervous 
about 
going 

outside, 
not 
only 
because 

she does not want to be 
infected, but also because 
she is concerned about racial 
harassment. 

“It just struck me as this 

great irony that in March and 

in April, we were living in 
lockdown situations and we 
were told ‘get out’, ‘get some 
fresh air,’ ‘it’s good for your 
mental health, once a day just 
go for a walk,’” Borja said. 
“But, it’s a very stressful thing 
to ‘get out,’ ‘get fresh air,’ ‘go 
on a walk,’ as an Asian person, 
since 
Asian 
people 
were 

getting spit on, were having 
racist things yelled at them by 
drivers passing by.”

According to the Center 

for Disease Control, on Jan. 
21, 2020, the first case of 
COVID-19 was identified in 
the United States.

In March, Secretary of 

State Mike Pompeo referred 
to the 2019 novel coronavirus 
as the “Wuhan virus” and 
President 
Donald 
Trump 

called COVID-19 the “China 
virus.” CDC Director Robert 
Redfield condemned the use 
of such language, saying it 
was “absolutely wrong and 
inappropriate.” 

As COVID-19 continued to 

spread, the Los Angeles Times 
reported a rise in hate crimes 
toward Asian Americans from 
February to April. The article 
echoed an FBI warning of the 
potential surge in hate crimes 
against 
Asian 
Americans 

during the pandemic. The 
warning detailed an incident 
in Midland, Texas, in which 
an 
Asian-American 
family 

was 
stabbed 
because 
the 

attacker “thought the family 
was Chinese, and infecting 
people with the coronavirus.”

Rose, 
Borja 
and 
many 

other University community 
members are taking action 
to combat the rise in anti-
Asian hate crimes and to 

raise awareness of racist and 
xenophobic acts. 

In this article, the acronyms 

AAPI 
(Asian 
Americans 

and Pacific Islanders), A/
PIA (Asian/Pacific Islander 
American) 
and 
APID/A 

(Asian Pacific Islander Desi/
Americans) will be frequently 
used. 

Documenting hate crimes 

across the U.S.

After 
being 
established 

on 
March 
19, 
the 
STOP 

AAPI 
HATE 
Reporting 

Center recieved 673 reports 
of 
COVID-19-related 

discrimination in the United 
States within the first week of 
opening.

Borja 
leads 
a 
team 
of 

researchers to analyze media 
coverage of anti-Asian hate 
incidents to understand the 
scope of these events for 
STOP AAPI HATE. University 
alum Jacob Gibson and LSA 
sophomore 
Amelia 
Navins 

are assisting Borja with the 
project. 

“We are going through news 

databases 
and 
identifying 

all articles we can that are 
related 
to 
Asian-American 

discrimination in relation to 
COVID-19,” Gibson said. “And 
then 
we’re 
tracking 
what 

the news stories are about, 
whether it’s about politician 
statements 
regarding 
anti-

Asian American racism or 
a statement that has been 
racist, or whether it’s been 
about individual incidents of 
harassment.”

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

Twitter account posts anon 
sexual assault allegations

JASMIN LEE & VARSHA 

VEDAPUDI

Summer Managing News Editor and 

Daily Staff Reporter

Content 
Warning: 
Sexual 

assault, sexual abuse.

A Twitter account created 

Wednesday called “Assaulters 
at UMich” posted a series of 
tweets calling out alleged 
sexual 
assaulters 
on 
the 

University 
of 
Michigan 

campus, including a professor. 
The account asked for direct 
messages from students with 
claims of sexual assault and 
posted these submissions to 
their page with the name and 
picture of the alleged assaulter 
along with any fraternity or 
athletic team affiliation.

The Daily reached out to 

the creator of the account 
via direct message, whose 
identity cannot be verified and 
asked to remain anonymous 
due to safety concerns. The 
creator told The Daily via 
Twitter direct messages that 
they wanted to help survivors 
because the University has 
failed to protect survivors 
from their abusers.

“At first I wasn’t sure if 

people would send in their 
stories, but once individuals 
started sharing their stories 
I was shocked at the sheer 
amount of individuals who 
have 
gone 
through 
these 

(traumas),” they said. “It just 
shows how prevalent sexual 
assaults (are) and that UMich 
needs to do a better job taking 
action.” 

The creator said though 

they are not able to verify the 
submissions of alleged abuse 
that they are receiving, they 
are vigilant about deleting 
posts that are proven to be 
untrue.

The Daily reached out to 

the Sexual Assault Prevention 
and 
Awareness 
Center 
at 

the University, who cited a 
statement from Public Affairs.

University spokesman Rick 

Fitzgerald told The Daily in an 
email they are not able to verify 
the validity of the accusations, 
and they encourage victims 
of sexual assault to report 
their 
experience 
through 

University resources.

“We 
encourage 
anyone 

who 
experiences 
sexual 

misconduct 
within 
our 

community to report it to 
police and OIE so the concerns 
can 
be 
thoroughly 
and 

appropriately 
investigated,” 

Fitzgerald said. “Anonymous 
reports 
are 
very 
difficult 

or impossible to investigate 
fully. We are not in a position 
to confirm or deny any of this 
information. We offer these 
resources 
and 
encourage 

community 
members 
to 

seek any support or other 
assistance they may need, 
even if they choose not to 
report to the university or 
police.”

University employees such 

as 
former 
provost 
Martin 

Philbert, late former athletic 
doctor Robert E. Anderson 
and 
former 
associate 

professor of music Stephen 
Shipps have been accused of 
sexual misconduct in the past. 
A sex discrimination lawsuit 
was recently filed by a former 
University athlete against the 
University and James Henry, 
a track and field coach. There 
has also been controversy 
surrounding 
cross-

examination guidelines with 
Title IX regulations, which 
can discourage survivors from 
reporting assault.

Students 
at 
other 

universities, 
such 
as 
the 

University of California at San 
Diego and the University of 
California at Los Angeles have 
created similar pages inspired 
by the “Assaulters at UMich” 
page to share experiences 
of sexual assault on their 
campuses. 

University alum Joy Boakye 

had 
her 
experience 
being 

sexually assaulted shared on 
the page. Her message on the 
page 
included 
accusations 

of people disregarding her 
allegations because of the 
accused’s prominent role in 
the Black community at the 
University. 

Boakye 
told 
The 
Daily 

in an email that she feared 
reinforcing 
the 
harmful 

stereotypes 
against 
people 

of color, and that she was 
concerned 
with 
furthering 

white supremacy which also 
affects women of color.

“I also think that this is an 

illustration of how race colors 
sexual 
violence,” 
Boakye 

said. “Survivors of color are 
discouraged or feel terrified 
to report because (it would) 
be reporting someone in the 
community and that looks like 
betrayal.”

Boakye also shared she 

did not reach out to any 
organizations with her story 
because of how exhausting it 
was to speak of her trauma. 
She said the incident left 
her “suicidal,” “broken” and 
caused her to “sever ties 
with the Black community” 
because of how much more she 
claimed the accused person 
was valued than her. 

Boakye 
said 
having 

a 
leadership 
role 
in 
the 

University 
community 
has 

enabled assaulters to get away 
with crimes in the past. 

“If you are an athlete, if 

you are part of a fraternity, if 
you’re part of something that 
makes you the leaders and 
best, you know that you have 
the power to do whatever 
you want regardless of the 
consequences.” Boakye said. 

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

We just 

thought it was 
disheartening 
in today’s age 
when you see 
an African-

American male 
lose his life on 

television.

