NJ (my home state) is one of the most diverse states in the country but also one of the most racially segregated states, with one of the most racially segregated school systems. Because we’re in the North and so diverse, we tend not to examine the persistent systemic racism that exists in NJ. We rarely acknowledge that NJ was the last state in the North to hold onto slavery. We also rarely acknowledge the legacy of that history and its impact across systems and institutions throughout the state today.

NJ Social Justice Organizations

• People’s Organization for Progress (an independent, grassroots, community based, politically progressive association of citizens working for racial, social and economic justice and greater unity in the community)
• The Meta Theatre Company (MTC’s mission is to create theatre about the issues of white privilege, race, class, gender and sexual orientation, and help audiences create social change in their communities.)
• Sankofa Collaborative (Its purpose is to help individuals in schools, museums and libraries present, interpret, and discuss African American history.)
• NJ Institute for Social Justice (The Institute’s mission is to empower urban residents to realize and achieve their full potential.)
• Center for the Study of White American Culture (Our mission is to build an equitable society in the United States by decentering white culture and centering an anti-racist multiracial culture free of white supremacy.)
• Casa de Esperanza (a non-profit organization created to serve immigrants and refugees who need affordable legal, educational and social services, as well as a place to go when they need help)
• Somerset County Cultural Diversity Coalition (a human relations organization dedicated to fighting bias, prejudice and bigotry in our county)
• Sourland Conservancy (Protecting NJ’s Sourland Mountain Since 1986)
• Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Somerset Hills
• Islamic Society of Central Jersey
• Not In Our Town: Princeton (an interracial, interfaith group united to advance the cause of racial justice in Princeton)
• Make the Road New Jersey (builds the power of immigrant and working class communities in New Jersey to achieve dignity and justice through community organizing, legal and support services, transformative education and policy innovation)
• Hunterdon County Anti-Racism Coalition
• Hopewell Valley Race and Diversity Discussion Group
• Anti-Racist Alliance of North Jersey
• Central Jersey Coalition for Justice
• NJ Alliance for Immigrant Justice

Systemic Racism in NJ

• Selective Policing: Racially Disparate Enforcement of Low-Level Offenses in New Jersey (ACLU report)
• New Jersey: Racial Disparities In Marijuana Possession Arrest Rates (go to page 166 of this report: “The War on Marijuana in Black and White”)
• “Unequal & Unfair New Jersey’s War on Marijuana Users” (ACLU report)
• New Jersey’s Apartheid and Intensely Segregated Urban Schools (report)
• “New Jersey Law Codifies School Segregation, Suit Says”
• “The North’s Jim Crow”
• “Minority children in N.J. likeliest to be poor, unhealthy, struggle in school, report says”
• Children in Poverty by Race and Ethnicity (report)
• “Don’t let N.J.’s wealthy suburbs block out black and Latino families”
• “New Jersey has fourth highest number of hate groups in country, says Southern Poverty Law Center”

Slavery in NJ

When the history of slavery is taught in NJ, it’s often taught as something that happened somewhere else, far away in the South. What often gets ignored is that slavery happened here, in NJ, and this state held onto slavery longer than any other state in the North. As an educator, I believe we must raise awareness about this history and learn from it so we create a future built on racial justice. Below are a few articles and projects that relate to this history and its current impact:

• “Scarlet and Black: An Exploration of the African-American and Native American Experience at Rutgers”
• The Princeton & Slavery Project
• “Princeton to Name Two Campus Spaces in Honor of Slaves”
• Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum (Facebook page and website)
• Mapping Application for African American Places, Culture & History (includes several areas in the Northeast US)

White Supremacist flyers found in NJ, Spring and Summer 2018

In the summer of 2018, in the central and north Jersey area, we saw white supremacy recruiting campaigns using flyers and social media by two white supremacist groups. This is an important opportunity for us to speak out against racism and hate, but it’s also an opportunity for us to link these overt forms of white supremacy to the less overt daily forms of white supremacy that exist throughout our institutions and systems.

News reports

• “White Supremacists Are Recruiting in North Jersey”
• “Recent White Supremacist Activity in New Jersey”
• “Residents Taking Action Against White Supremacist Fliers Found Around Bridgewater, Bedminster, Other Local Areas”

General resources

• Disrupting White Nationalists
• Hate symbols database
• “The Face of White Supremacy in 2017”
• “Displaying Hate: A Look at White Supremacist Extremist Imagery” (podcast)
• Southern Poverty Law Center’s info on Identity Evropa
• ADL’s info on Identity Evropa
• Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America by Kathleen Belew (Interview with Kathleen Belew on NPR with Terry Gross)

Immediate response if you see a hate flyer:

1. Photograph it and take note of the time, date, and exact location
2. Consider calling the police to report it
3. If the location is privately owned (like a store or mall), report it to those authorities
4. Report it to the Southern Poverty Law Center here https://www.splcenter.org/reporthate and/or the ADL here https://www.adl.org/take-action/report-an-incident

Local NJ actions

• Post flyers on public bulletin boards that condemn hate and racism and provide info about reporting bias (create your own flyers or use existing flyers) – for example:
  • “10 simple ideas to eliminate racism”
  • “Bias Crime Report It,” NJ Office of the Attorney General
• Work with local officials/local candidates
  • Consider Somerset County’s anti-hate resolution adopted 8/22/17 by Freeholders, R17-657, “Message about hate-based violence and hate crimes” available on page 4 here
• Organize workshops, discussions, and action-planning
  • Invite ADL to do a presentation to your group or community
  • Organize a reading group/discussion of the book by local author, activist, RVCC professor, and Divided No Longer blog creator Karen Gaffney, Dismantling the Racism Machine: A Manual and Toolbox; invite her to do a workshop for your group or community (contact her at dividednolonger@gmail.com); review her blog with resources Divided No Longer