Black New Jersey lawmakers introduce bill to explore reparations
(NJ State House Tours)
TRENTON, N.J. - Black New Jersey lawmakers have called on the state to examine its role in slavery and possibly pay reparations to its black residents.
Leaders of the state’s Legislative Black Caucus introduced a bill Thursday that could establish the New Jersey Reparations Task Force to review the history of slavery in the state and any racial discrimination or disparity from it.
Democratic State Sen. Sandra Cunningham says it’s time “we begin the long and painstaking process to rectify our past.”
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New Jersey fought for the Union in the Civil War but was the last of the Northern States to abolish slavery.
Democratic Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter said the state will be an example “as how we repair these irreparable harms.”
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