El-Sayed says America must confront its ‘unpaid debts’ to Black communities

DETROIT (MNTV) — Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has called on U.S. leaders to confront longstanding “unpaid debts” owed to Black communities, arguing that political leadership must acknowledge persistent racial inequalities and act to address them.

“When it comes to Black communities in Michigan, when it comes to Black communities in America, there are unpaid debts that have long since come due that we are unwilling to acknowledge, let alone pay down,” El-Sayed said Saturday at a gathering of women faith leaders in Detroit, hosted by the Woman Difference Collaborative. 

The remarks came in response to a question about winning over Democratic voters who did not back him in the primary; rather than dwell on strategy, he pointed to his record and pressed voters to judge whether he had “done my best.”

El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health director now facing Republican former Representative Mike Rogers in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate races, highlighted his work on infant and maternal mortality, asthma, and lead exposure — problems that fall heaviest on communities facing economic and racial inequality — and called for more access to capital for small businesses and greater investment in housing and public schools. 

His argument ties racial justice to the material conditions of health, housing, and education, framing the Senate contest as a test of whether government is prepared to acknowledge longstanding inequities and take responsibility for reducing them.