The Coalition for a New Jersey Reparations Task Force (The Coalition) is a program organized by the left-of-center New Jersey Institute for Social Justice’s (NJISJ) “Say the Word: Reparations” campaign. The coalition has called for the New Jersey legislature to pass a law making New Jersey the second state in the country to study the payment reparations for descendants of slaves. The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice cites the state’s history of opposing left-wing racial policy and consistent racial disparities as the need to offer reparations.

History

The Coalition for a New Jersey Reparations Task Force is a loosely formed coalition of various groups organized under the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice’s “Say the Word: Reparations” campaign. ¹ NJISJ claims that New Jersey has some of the worst racial disparities in the country, recalling the state’s history as “the slave state of the North.” ² The organization and affiliated members call on the state legislature to establish a task force to begin studying paying reparations. ³

Policies

The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice calls New Jersey the sixth-most segregated state for Black students. It objects to the 3:1 ratio of Blacks to whites facing the police, 12:1 ratio of Blacks to whites being incarcerated, 18:1 ratio of Black to white kids being locked up, 3:1 Black to white infant mortality, the median family net wealth of $322,500 of whites to $17,700 for Blacks, and a white to Black median net wealth ratio of $103,500 to $4,900. ⁴ The NJISJ calls on New Jersey to be the second state behind California to begin a task force to investigate paying slavery reparations. ⁵

NJISJ also notes that New Jersey was opposed to the Emancipation Proclamation, was the last Northern state to abolish slavery, and following the Civil War refused to adopt the Reconstruction Amendments. ⁶ NJISJ notes the state’s use of racially restrictive land covenants, inequality in the GI Bill, predatory lending, and redlining. ⁷

Programs

Pending legislation would establish as task force to examine the institution of slavery in the United States and New Jersey, examine the extent the government has prevented former slaves from economically thriving, examine the lingering effects of slavery, research methods for facilitating justice and economic justice for descendants of slaves, recommend what remedies should be awarded, and address how remedies would comport with national and international standards of remedy for wrongs. ⁸

Resolutions calling for a reparations task force have been passed in the New Jersey municipalities and counties of West Orange, South Orange, East Orange, Highland Park, Lawrence Township, Jersey City, Maplewood, Plainfield, Montclair, Newark, Trenton, Princeton, Atlantic City, Red Bank, Orange, Livingston, Mercer, and Essex. ⁹

Partner organizations forming a coalition include the ACLU of New Jersey, Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey, Council of Imams in New Jersey, Bishop William Stokes of the Diocese of New Jersey, Bethany Baptist Church, League of Women Voters of New Jersey, NAACP New Jersey State Conference, Urban League of Essex County, United Way of Greater Newark, Social Justice Matters, Salvation and Social Justice, Rutgers Inclusion Project, New Jersey Working Families Party, and People’s Organization for Progress. ¹⁰

Finances

In 2020, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice had net assets of $6,781,839. ¹¹ According to the organization’s tax returns, in 2020 the NJISJ recorded $3,201,230 in revenue and $2,998,032 in expenses. ¹² In 2019, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice had $1,478,295 in revenue and $750,185 in expenses. ¹³

Leadership

Ryan P. Haygood has been the president and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice since 2015. ¹⁴ Previously, Haygood spent 12 years working in various capacities for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. ¹⁵ Haygood spent two years as an associate at the law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson. ¹⁶ Ryan oversees NJISJ’s programs on raising the minimum wage, canceling student loan debt, closing youth prisons, and establishing the Say The Word: Reparations campaign for a state reparations task force. ¹⁷

1. “Say the Word.” New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://www.njisj.org/saytheword.
2. “Take Action NOW to Repair NJ’s Racial Injustice.” 400 Years NJ. Accessed April 15, 2023. http://400yearsnj.org.
3. “Take Action NOW to Repair NJ’s Racial Injustice.” 400 Years NJ. Accessed April 15, 2023. http://400yearsnj.org
4. “Say the Word.” New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://www.njisj.org/saytheword.
5. “Say the Word.” New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://www.njisj.org/saytheword.
6. “Erasing New Jersey’s Red Lines.” New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/njisj/pages/689/attachments/original/1588358478/Erasing_New_Jersey’s_Red_Lines_Final.pdf?1588358478.
7. “Erasing New Jersey’s Red Lines.” New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/njisj/pages/689/attachments/original/1588358478/Erasing_New_Jersey’s_Red_Lines_Final.pdf?1588358478.
8. “Say the Word Reparations.” New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/njisj/pages/2784/attachments/original/1643058479/STW_Reparations_Fact_Sheet_1.24.22.jpg?1643058479.
9. “These Municipalities and Counties Have Said the Word: Reparations.” New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://www.njisj.org/saytheword.
10. “Campaign Supporters.” New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/njisj/pages/2777/attachments/original/1622584554/STW_Reps_Coalition_and_Sign_On_6.1.pdf?1622584554.
11. New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2020.
12. New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2020.
13.  New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2019.
14. “Ryan P. Haygood.” Linked In. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanphaygood/; “Staff.” New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://www.njisj.org/about_staff.
15. “Ryan P. Haygood.” Linked In. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanphaygood/.
16. “Ryan P. Haygood.” Linked In. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanphaygood/.
17. “Staff.” New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://www.njisj.org/about_staff.