We have a major opportunity in the coming months to take collective anti-racist action in Huntington Woods. We have a chance to honor the demands of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

Much like other cities and towns in America, our city was built on racism and white supremacy. This is a troubling statement for many here, we're sure, but what's the evidence behind this claim? We know that Huntington Woods has in the past intentionally excluded racial and ethnic groups it deemed undesirable, especially Black and brown people, via practices such as redlining and racist housing covenants. Many homes still have anti-Black, anti-Jewish, anti-Catholic, and anti-Latinx clauses in their deeds.

What's been the result of these historic iniquities? Today that Huntington Woods is almost entirely White (95%) in a region that is very racially diverse. We spend $3.6 million per year on fire and police, consuming a full 40% of the total municipal budget. Thanks in large part to federal housing programs, residents of Huntington Woods have been able to build generational wealth through the homes, whereas Black and brown people in Detroit have been denied this opportunity. Those of us alive today might not have originally created these injustices—indeed, they have occurred over generations—but we have a responsibility today to end and reverse them.

We now have a chance through local progressive action to start to heal the old wounds of segregation and the huge economic damage it inflicted on Black people. We have the chance via a moral city budget to become a more equitable and inclusive community for all people, regardless of class or race.