Detroit yard signs push Black-Jewish alliance

87 percent of likely Black voters in Michigan said they would support Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, according to a Detroit News-commissioned poll released during the campaign's final days. Despite that margin, new yard signs and billboards appeared in cities with large Black populations, including Detroit, Flint, and Ypsilanti, to promote a different message.

The Center for Urban Renewal and Education, or CURE, funded the advertising campaign. The organization is a Washington, DC-based Black conservative nonprofit. Its yard signs call for Black and Jewish communities to stand together. Billboards defend Israel's right to exist and reject the description of self-defense as genocide. None of the materials identify a specific candidate.

Star Parker, director of CURE, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency by email that the campaign aims to remind Black Christian voters of reasons to support Israel. The signs arrived during the final week of the race. They followed an October 22 interfaith roundtable organized by CURE in Detroit.

Black pastors and Rabbi Aaron Bergman of Adat Shalom, a Conservative synagogue in Farmington Hills, participated in that roundtable. They discussed the history of Black-Jewish organizing. Bergman stated by email that the gathering was intended to educate participants about antisemitism rather than focus on politics.

El-Sayed has focused his closing efforts on Black voters. He has visited Black churches and appeared with former President Barack Obama and Rep. Jim Clyburn. Strong turnout in these communities is central to his chance of winning the seat. However, his statements on Israel have alienated some Jewish voters, while his efforts to secure Black support have faced difficulties.

Republican candidate Mike Rogers has also sought support from both groups. A super PAC linked to Rogers has spent heavily on ads accusing El-Sayed of misleading Black voters. Detroit reporter Sam Robinson, who works for a historic Black newspaper, told the Columbia Journalism Review that some distrust stems from perceptions that Arab communities are taking resources from Black residents.

Pro-Israel Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed Rogers late in the race. Parker expects many Black Christian voters to follow Stevens' decision. Other developments suggest Palestinian rights may carry more weight with Michigan's Black voters than in past years. In August, pro-Palestinian Rep. Donavan McKinney defeated a pro-Israel incumbent in a congressional primary in a majority-Black district near Detroit.