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.