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By Amy Goldsmith, NJ State Director, Clean Water Action

The narrative of racism and the slave trade often focuses on the South, but the North also played a role, which is conspicuously missing from most history books. This omission leaves out a critical part of the story that directly connects to many of today's issues, such as redlining by race in housing, banking, education, policing, economic opportunity, and even the distribution of pollution and power. At Clean Water Action, we witness the ongoing impacts of this systemic inequality every day in our work, including in New Jersey. Understanding this history is crucial to addressing the root causes of environmental and social injustice. 

Clean Water Action broke one of the chains of injustice when we, in partnership with NJ Environmental Justice Alliance and Ironbound Community Corporation, led the effort and won passage of the landmark Environmental Justice Law (2022). The State can now deny new pollution permits and/or set stricter conditions for existing facilities if they are located in “overburdened” communities – universally where Black, Brown, low income and language diverse people live.  

The Garden State embedded slavery and civil injustices in its state constitution, laws, economic and agricultural systems at its founding. Starting in 1644-45, the Concessions Agreement of the Lords and Proprietors of the Province of New Caesarea, or New Jersey made it economically advantageous to own slaves by offering colonists 75 acres “for every weaker servant, or slave, male or female, exceeding the age of fourteen years, which anyone shall send or carry, arriving here”1.  

Monmouth County, where I live, had the second largest population of slaves in the state. Eatontown is where NJ’s only known lynching occurred in1886. In nearby Shrewsbury, the intersection of Broad Street and Sycamore Avenue represented the “Four Corners of Slavery”. It included a Quaker Meetinghouse, Christ Church, Blue Ball Tavern and home of large land and slave owner, John Wardell2. These touch points of slavery are all within 3 miles of my house. These are just a few examples of NJ’s slave history. Most people do not know these and other truths about the land they walk on and lives that came before them. It is time that we did.  

Quakers often credited for their abolitionist work were also substantial land and slaveowners including William Penn4. In the late 1800’s, Quakers also originated solitary confinement and later apologized for its use. They wrongly thought that isolation would provide an opportunity for quiet contemplation and repentance, not cruel and unusual punishment we know it is. Despite efforts to end its use, solitary confinement is still being practiced in the US in various forms. Our nation’s prison system and corresponding incarcerated population (over 60% people of color) continue to experience a modern-day form of enslavement both in treatment and exploitation for their work. To this day, access to basic rights, safe drinking water, in NJ’s prison system is virtually non-existent. Read more about Clean Water Action’s Safe Water Safe Lives campaign and RSVP for our upcoming film showing and discussion on February 20th in Jersey City.  

While voting and other constitutional rights in New Jersey have vastly improved over the centuries, it has not always done it willingly and/or at times without rescinding. Initially, the State’s Constitution (written 1776) allowed freed negroes to vote if of full age and worth L505. Subsequently, the Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery (1804) required NJ’s enslavement of males for 25 years and females for 20 before mandating freedom7.  Given the life expectancy at that time, most people died a slave. In 1844, the NJ Constitution declared that “all men are by nature free and independent”6. This was undone in 1845 when the State Supreme Court said not so fast and declared that it was just a “general proposition” and didn’t apply to “man in his private, individual or domestic capacity… or to interfere with his domestic relations.” –effectively saying that “free and independent” only applied to white men.  In 1846, the NJ Act to Abolish Slavery was passed to give the state the appearance of phasing out slavery; when in fact it only redefined slaves as “apprentices for life” – thereby changing the accounting, but not the functionality of enslavement.  

It took another generation of slaves for the federal government to act. The 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (December 1865) was ratified to end slavery; but NJ only cast its vote after the required ¾ of the existing 36 states did so8. While we now observe Juneteenth in memory of Texas slaves who did not learn of their freedom until 6 months after ratification, not all NJ slaves were freed until January 23, 1866 when a state constitutional amendment was signed by incoming NJ Governor Marcus Ward of Newark. This makes New Jersey officially the last of ALL states to abolish slavery.  

In 1868, the 14th Amendment was ratified to grant citizenship to persons born or naturalized in the US including formerly enslaved people and guarantee “equal protections of the laws”. NJ initially voted in support (1866), but withdrew its ratification vote in 1868. Two years later (1870), the 15th Amendment gave voting rights to all men regardless of race, color, or previous servitude.  We know that open and accessible voting is not the only measure of a democracy, but it is fundamental to every voice being counted. Women (regardless of race) had to wait another 50 years (1920) for the right to vote under the 19th Amendment.  

To this day and regardless of these constitutional amendments, aggressive voter suppression continues and is on the rise for communities of color across the nation. This pattern of practice has been intentional, systemic and codified including gerrymandering districts, fewer polling locations in communities of color, less accessible voting (hours, location, transit), fewer methods of voting, fewer machines, long lines, intimidation, and misinformation. To New Jersey’s credit, it has taken some steps to make voting more accessible especially since COVID – with early voting, expanded mail in and drop box voting, automatic voter registration when issuing your driver license and now plans to allow same day registration and voting, as well as recent court victory that eliminating the rigged ballot system that party bosses controlled.  

In my own NJ experience at Clean Water Action, we have had to sue towns to ensure our First Amendment (Free Speech) rights were upheld while also supporting our staff and volunteers when stopped for no reason other than the color of their skin. In the mid-1990’s, I had to escort our non-white “get out the vote” canvassers to help ensure their safety in a town that was not very welcoming and with Halloween lawn decorations that displayed hanging bodies from trees. While I am not sure if any of the residents were aware of the impact their “decorations” had on a person of color, it was palpable for these college students.

Thirty years later, people, candidates and public officials have become more emboldened and successful in delivering penetrating messages, actions and policies that are designed to systematically divide and disenfranchise people. We cannot let this happen.  

For over a half century, Clean Water Action has sought justice and secured many victories in policy, community and the ballot box. A true democracy - voting rights, meaningful participate in decision-making and more – is essential to ensuring that polluters and other wrongdoers are put in check by communities most adversely impacted.  

With this in mind, Clean Water Action will continue to be bold, speak up, challenge, and work collectively to dismantle systems of oppression. Together, we can better ensure that all people regardless of the color or their skin, zip code they live in, language spoken or income are afforded a healthy and thriving community for their families and in their workplace.  

Join us in this fight for justice!  

Take ActionAttend Events….Donate!  

Together we are stronger.  

In solidarity.

 

 

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1 Richard (Rick) M. Geffken, Stories of Slavery in New Jersey (Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2021), Page 14.  

2 Ibid, Page 58.

3 Ibid, Page 50.

4 Ibid, Page 55.

5 Ibid, Page 16.

6 Ibid, Page 16.

7 Ibid, Page 16. 

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