A new report by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Division on Civil Rights analyzes the rise of white supremacy in the state and calls on residents to oppose and confront it.
The report titled “Exposing White Supremacy in New Jersey,” examines “the full spectrum of bias-based behavior,” that results from a belief that white people are superior to others — from biased attitudes to white supremacist physical violence and terrorism. It comes after the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness rated the threat presented by white supremacist violent extremists as “high” for the third year in a row.
The analysis was based on public virtual listening sessions geared toward understanding the impact of white supremacy in New Jersey with more than 200 community members. The 57-page report outlines the findings from those conversations, highlighting how white supremacy affects the mental health of those targeted by it — not just through violence but through everyday acts of bias.
In response to a mental health expert’s question about whether people would label their experiences as traumatic, one student expressed that they were constantly afraid, according to the report.
“I’m always on edge around new people who aren’t [people of color] and who haven’t grown up around people of color. I’m constantly scared. I don’t know your background. I don’t know if you’re going to hate crime me,” the student said in the report.
The report also explains the ways that white supremacist extremists have strategically blended into mainstream society, working to normalize their ideologies. It also detailed how they have also infiltrated government institutions, including law enforcement positions and school boards, as Gothamist reported in 2021. Gothamist has also reported on the involvement of New Jersey white supremacists in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
In a statement announcing the report Monday, Platkin stressed that its residents…
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