TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey already apologized for slavery nearly two decades ago.
Now, a Democratic lawmaker says an apology isn’t enough.
Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-15) introduced A5253, the “Truth, Reconciliation, and Repair Act of New Jersey,” on June 15th. The legislation would replace the state’s 2008 slavery apology with a sweeping new declaration accepting responsibility for historical slavery as well as racial harms the bill says continue into the present day.
The distinction isn’t merely rhetorical.
A5253/S4459 specifically criticizes the Legislature’s 2008 apology because it “affirmatively rejected a commitment to repair the harms and aftermath wrought by slavery.” The new legislation declares that New Jersey must instead move “from symbolism to an apology that leads to accountability. From history to repair.”
What does “repair” mean?
The bill doesn’t create a cash-reparations program, appropriate taxpayer dollars or establish individual payments. It does, however, commit the State of New Jersey to “restoring and repairing affected peoples with actions beyond this apology,” including addressing what its sponsors characterize as the continuing consequences of slavery, Jim Crow and present-day racial discrimination.
That’s a potentially significant (and expensive) departure from a purely historical resolution.
The legislation embraces the findings of the New Jersey Reparations Council, convened by the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, and describes the council’s recommendations as a roadmap for addressing the racial wealth gap, investing in black communities and confronting “systemic inequities.”
Among its legislative findings, A5253 asserts that the harms of slavery have “evolved into mass incarceration, the racial wealth gap, segregated schools, and concentrated poverty.” It also claims that Black and white New Jersey families face a median wealth gap exceeding $600,000.
The proposal would also bring those conclusions directly into New Jersey’s already hyper-politicized education system.
A5253 directs the Amistad Commission to incorporate the Reparations Council report’s findings into its curriculum standards and guidance and work with the Department of Education to integrate the material into instructional resources beginning with the first full academic year after enactment. The bill goes further by urging schools, colleges, religious and civic institutions, businesses and professional associations to teach how New Jersey institutions “benefitted from and continue to perpetuate” racial harms.
In other words, lawmakers aren’t simply being asked to acknowledge historical atrocities. They’re being asked to formally endorse the proposition that New Jersey bears a continuing responsibility for present-day racial disparities and should pursue government action to “repair” them.
Precisely how far that commitment could eventually extend — new spending programs, race-conscious policies, direct reparations or something else — isn’t answered by A5253.
That debate would presumably come later.
For now, Reynolds-Jackson’s legislation would establish the underlying premise in state law: the 2008 apology wasn’t enough, the harms remain ongoing, and Trenton bears responsibility for repairing them.
For taxpayers wondering what the eventual price tag of “repair” might be, A5253 doesn’t provide an answer.
