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I don't think it's about race, but rather about class. I think Northern NJ has more economic inequality than the southern part of the state, combine this with the fact that blacks on average are poorer than whites, and it seems segregated to you.
Just a friendly book recommendation (if you haven't already read it); James Gigantino's Ragged Road to Abolition is the current standard work on slavery and abolition in NJ. Basically argues that NJ resisted wholesale abolition because the state was so devastated by the Revolutionary War that no one in power wanted to shake things up, socially. Your point about Newark and its support for the Slave South is also important, beyond just selling shoes in the South, many northern industries also invested their profits in southern plantations and slave markets since these were booming sectors in the 1840s and 1850s. You really could not have had the birth of an industrial north without a slave south.
No, I haven't read that, so thank you for the recommendation!
I don't think it's about race, but rather about class. I think Northern NJ has more economic inequality than the southern part of the state, combine this with the fact that blacks on average are poorer than whites, and it seems segregated to you.
Yup, that's a solid part of it... the other part is that a lot of the limousine liberals are full of ...
I had family live in Florida for many years, and spent quite a bit of time down there. While I wouldn't trade NJ for Florida in any corner of the multiverse, there was far more integration down there than in NJ. The schools were better integrated, and there were far more interracial couples out and about.
For all the progressive talk, NJ is extremely hypersegregated, and, sadly, there isn't much desire to address the problem.
As I have traveled throughout the state I noticed one thing. Blacks and whites are more integrated in South Jersey than in North Jersey. When I was in Burlington I saw whites and blacks interacting. I even saw whites and blacks interacting in Camden. However when I went to South Orange and Montclair, towns that are well known for their diversity, I never seen them interacting. In these towns, whites were with whites and blacks were with blacks. Why is this so?
Considering Montclair has the highest rating for interracial families in the country, I suspect your observations are just plain old wrong.
Yup, that's a solid part of it... the other part is that a lot of the limousine liberals are full of ...
I had family live in Florida for many years, and spent quite a bit of time down there. While I wouldn't trade NJ for Florida in any corner of the multiverse, there was far more integration down there than in NJ. The schools were better integrated, and there were far more interracial couples out and about.
For all the progressive talk, NJ is extremely hypersegregated, and, sadly, there isn't much desire to address the problem.
Is it a problem? Is it something that needs to be addressed?
I think diversity is fine. I also think lack of diversity is fine too, as long as it happens naturally and there is no discrimination involved, which I think is the case in most of Northern NJ.
Is it a problem? Is it something that needs to be addressed?
I think diversity is fine. I also think lack of diversity is fine too, as long as it happens naturally and there is no discrimination involved, which I think is the case in most of Northern NJ.
C'mon... North Jersey has a massive history of discrimination in housing and education. Ever read the story about how Cory Booker's parents were fought every step of the way when trying to buy their house in Harrington Park? Teaneck, arguably one of the most diverse towns and school districts in the state (although the schools are getting less diverse by the day with all of the white flight), was the first school district to voluntarily integrate its schools in 1964. 1964!!! Yes, it has gotten better, but it's still pretty bad, especially in the schools (take it from someone who knows first-hand).
And white flight, gerrymandering, redlining, and the institutional denying of equal access to educational and economic opportunities over a period of centuries are hardly what I would call "natural" processes...
C'mon... North Jersey has a massive history of discrimination in housing and education. Ever read the story about how Cory Booker's parents were fought every step of the way when trying to buy their house in Harrington Park? Teaneck, arguably one of the most diverse towns and school districts in the state (although the schools are getting less diverse by the day with all of the white flight), was the first school district to voluntarily integrate its schools in 1964. 1964!!! Yes, it has gotten better, but it's still pretty bad, especially in the schools (take it from someone who knows first-hand).
And white flight, gerrymandering, redlining, and the institutional denying of equal access to educational and economic opportunities over a period of centuries are hardly what I would call "natural" processes...
I know about all of that, but that is ancient history. Today, people of color buy homes in the best neighborhoods in Northern NJ and are treated just like everybody else. The neighborhoods remain somewhat segregated for financial reasons, but as long as you have enough money for the house and the property taxes, people don't care what color you are. This is 2017, not 1964.
Good observation OP!
I've lived in cities such as Paris and NYC, and saw people mixing no problems. Growing up I mingled with people that were every color of the rainbow. I lived in Northern NJ for 4 years, and definetely noticed the segregation: it seemed like people just hang out in cliques of people just like them, neighborhoods with only whites, only italians, only blacks, only hispanics etc. are a dime a dozen...there are a few places like Montclair which are more mixed and open-minded, but there's lots of work to be done for better integration in Northern NJ..
In the 90s, there was a lawsuit against a real estate agency steering black people away from buying in Wyckoff. A professional couple, lawyer and doctor, were told there were no suitable properties and told to look in other towns. They reported it to I forget which agency, who sent in a fake white couple with the same credentials and finances. The agency had plenty of houses to show them in Wyckoff. I'm not sure that would still happen 20 years later, but change goes slowly.
Where I am in Monmouth County, it is very mixed. I am white, to my left is a black family, to my right, Malaysians, on the other side of them, a mixed Asian/Caucasian couple and their kids. My hometown in Bergen County is still very white.
In the 90s, there was a lawsuit against a real estate agency steering black people away from buying in Wyckoff. A professional couple, lawyer and doctor, were told there were no suitable properties and told to look in other towns. They reported it to I forget which agency, who sent in a fake white couple with the same credentials and finances. The agency had plenty of houses to show them in Wyckoff.
The exact same situation took place in Clark, around the same time. The minority population of Clark remains very low in comparison to all of the surrounding towns.
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