San Francisco excels at making headlines for craziness, Save Jerseyans, but a proposal to give “each Black longtime resident $5 million and granting total debt forgiveness” (h/t Fox News) might just take the cake. Nevermind that California was never even a slave state; the facts don’t matter when the inmates are running the asylum.
Regardless of what happens out in Cali, the next front in the reparations debate might be New Jersey.
There are currently two companion bills pending in Trenton – S386 and A938 – which would establish a “task force” to study the issue not unlike what happened out on the Left Coast.
“New Jersey’s deep roots in American slavery and its vestiges have endured to the present day,” the bill’s language alleges. “A direct line can be traced from New Jersey’s role in American slavery to its system today of voter suppression, racial wealth disparities, mass incarceration, racial segregation, and crumbling infrastructure in Black communities in New Jersey, such as the current elevated lead levels in water and homes.”
New Jersey was a hotbet of Confederate sympathizers in the North (the state voted against Lincoln and for McClellan in 1864), but the Garden State did contribute thousands of young men who fought – and in many cases died – for the Union cause. The state had voted to abolish slavery in 1804, decades before the Civil War began.
Of course, the bill’s Democrat sponsors fail to address the fact that the “black communities” referenced in the bills have been led by Democrats for generations, and in many cases black Democrats. What’s more, many of these communities are former “Abbott” districts which receive millions of dollars in redistributed state aid on an annual basis. Some larger communities like Camden and Newark received HUNDREDS of million of dollars – largely from the suburbs – every year.
Again… facts be damned. This isn’t about justice; it’s base politics.
Both bills were introduced last January but haven’t advanced in committee. It’s probably unlikely they’ll see much action this year (the entire legislature is on the ballot), but don’t be surprised if they’re reintroduced and get legs in 2024 when Democrats will expect presidential turnout to give them some extra electoral armor.
