An organization formed two years ago to study reparations as a legacy of slavery plans to release its findings on Thursday.
Community members gathered with state representatives in Perth Amboy on Juneteenth 2023 for a historic announcement by the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ). The organization unveiled plans to convene a state reparations council to examine the legacy of slavery in New Jersey.
The Reparations Council brought together a collaboration of state and national experts from a range of disciplines. Their mission: to research New Jersey’s deep and often overlooked involvement in slavery and its enduring impact on the lives of Black residents today.
Over the course of two years, the council studied the state’s history and its ties to the current racial landscape, ultimately producing strategic policy recommendations for reparative justice. Their work was deeply informed by community input, with residents offering feedback and posing questions following each committee’s public findings report.
The council’s research was conducted by committees named for the areas they focused on, including the History of Slavery, Public Education and Narrative, Economic Justice, Segregation in New Jersey, Environmental Justice, Democracy, Public Safety and Justice, Faith and Black Resistance, and Health Equity.
On Thursday, June 19, at 7 p.m., the council will release its final report—featuring findings and recommendations from all nine committees—at the Victoria Theater at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.
Prior to the Institute’s launch of the Reparations Council, the New Jersey state legislature had introduced a bill—A602/S3164—that would create a state task force to investigate reparations. However, to date, the bill has not been brought to a vote in either the Assembly or the Senate and therefore has not advanced to Gov. Murphy for consideration.
Jean-Pierre Brutus, senior counsel at NJISJ and convener of the Reparations Council, described the past two years as a period of rigorous study and eye-opening discovery.
“When it became clear that the New Jersey legislature’s leadership was not moving on the bill to establish a reparations task force, The Institute – convinced the moment was urgent and could no longer wait for politicians – convened the New Jersey Reparations Council of esteemed experts from across the state and country to serve on nine subject-matter committees.
“New Jersey’s commitment to its own Jim Crow period and its perpetuation of segregation are undeniable, and something that many residents of New Jersey know little about.”
People’s Organization for Progress, Chairman and Founder Lawrence Hamm sat on the Reparations Council Democracy committee. He will be on the panel at the final report findings event tomorrow evening.
“There were a number of things that we were looking at, including the impact of slavery and the relationship between the government and slavery,” Hamm said. “Slavery wasn’t a personal choice. It wasn’t a cultural practice. It was the law of the land. We were exploring how the laws, how government reinforced and strengthened the slave system in New Jersey, and how they caused harm and how Black people should be repaired because of that harm.
“The economic foundation of this state rests on the enslavement of African people,” Hamm said. “I think this report should be read by everyone. “This report shows the damage that was done in in terms of democracy and government, and the damage that was done to Black people in just about every major area of life.”
Ryan Haygood, President & CEO of NJISJ says his organization is releasing this report at just the right time.
“Even as we are fighting assaults on our democracy, we must also be building what comes next,” Haygood said. “In the turbulence lies an opportunity to lay a new foundation — one where Black people in New Jersey are empowered to flourish and where all New Jerseyans can share in the state’s vast wealth and opportunity.
“The findings and recommendations in this report lay out a blueprint for New Jersey to follow in order to finally repair the harm caused by slavery and its aftermath, which has led to today’s staggering $643,000 racial wealth gap,” added Haygood. “Once New Jerseyans learn from the Council’s work about our often-overlooked history, we are confident they will join us in calling on the legislature to turn the report’s proposed recommendations into policy.”
Hamm echoed the urgency.
“With each passing generation, it becomes more difficult to close the economic, social, cultural, and political gaps between Black and white Americans,” he said. “That’s why it’s imperative that we take action now—because there is such a thing as being too late.”
Retired New Jersey postal worker Larry Adams said he’s curious to hear the final report from the Reparations Council.
“I hope to find the justification for reparations to Afro-Americans in the state of New Jersey for the extensive exploitation of their labor,” he said. Exploitation that is both historic and largely unknown.”
Ande Richards may be reached at arichards@njadvancemedia.com.
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