charged in connection with his death, but the protests over systemic racism in policing have raged on. In February, the Jewish News profiled Solomon and other Jews of color in an article about the joys and challenges of being a minority among a minority. This week we invited those individuals to share their thoughts on the protests, the death of George Floyd, the current state of our country and what they would like to see from their Jewish community. This is what they said.
Jews in the D jews and racial justice
“Heartbroken,
Scared and Exhausted” Local Jews of color respond to George Floyd’s death.
Olivia Guterson
W
hen Shabbat ended Saturday, May 30, Ashira Solomon sat uncomfortably in front of her computer as she processed images of protesters and police clashing on the streets of Detroit over police brutality and racial injustice. Solomon, who is a Jew of color, described feeling absolutely devastated. A subsequent text from her best friend helped ease some
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JUNE 11 • 2020
of the pain. “I hope you know this goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway because I feel it’s necessary,” the message said. “We see you, we love you and we support you.” “My best friend is a dirty blonde, green-eyed Jewish girl who grew up across the street from me,” Solomon said. “As children, we came from two different worlds, but when met, our souls connected
instantly.” Locally, Jews of color have expressed a range of emotions as they continue to process all that has happened in the country since the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Minneapolis man killed by a white police officer pressing his knee into the man’s neck. The officer has since been arrested and charged with second-degree murder, and three other officers have been
PHOTOS TAKEN BY CJ BENNINGER OF OLIVIA GUTERSON
AS TOLD TO JEN LOVY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
OLIVIA GUTERSON, DETROIT I’m heartbroken, scared and exhausted. I’m seven months pregnant with a black child and deeply concerned about the world they will be born into. I hope everyone is paying attention and listening to the pain, sorrow and rage, and that there is a collective understanding that the tragic, unnecessary death of George Floyd and many others are not isolated events, but the reality of America’s 400-year epidemic that is American racism. I’ve had a lot of white friends, co-workers and community members reach out, expressing their sorrow and pain and asking what they should do. I wish instead of asking me and other BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) to educate and shoulder their trauma, they took time to listen to what the community is telling the world we need (and have needed) and creating space to witness our feelings, processing and coping. Vote, donate, read books,
