NorthJersey.com
Jackie Robinson had been out of the major leagues for five years by the time the New Jersey State Police hired its first Black trooper.
Six decades later, the department hails that man, Paul McLemore, as a true breaker of barriers. A black-and-white portrait of his October 1961 swearing-in hangs in the agency s West Trenton museum, and troopers speak of him with the same reverential tones a young ballplayer might use when discussing the Brooklyn Dodger who broke baseball’s color boundary.
Less spoken about until recently was the fierce racism McLemore met not only from the public, but from his own comrades-in-arms. And how the institutional racism that infused law enforcement at the time eventually pushed him out of the profession altogether.
Jewish Ledger
NJ town sued again for discrimination against Orthodox Jews
(JTA) – The state of New Jersey has sued one of its towns over alleged discrimination against Orthodox Jews – the second such lawsuit against the town in less than a year.
Jackson Township has been selectively applying local laws and drafting new ones as part of an attempt to push out Orthodox Jews and limit their religious activities, the lawsuit alleges, according to a report by NJ Advance Media. “We’ve filed this lawsuit because bias and hate have no home in New Jersey, and we will not allow some vocal residents’ intolerance to drive local government decisions,” New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in a statement. “Like all public servants, municipal officials have a duty to uphold the law, not weaponize it against specific groups because of what they believe or how they worship.” The attorney general wants Jackson Township to overturn the allegedly discrim
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, February 5, 2019.
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal filed a lawsuit on Tuesday on behalf of the state against the Township of Jackson claiming that its zoning laws are discriminatory and have prevented Orthodox Jews from freely practicing their religion.
The Ocean County town is home to some 60,000 people and is adjacent to Lakewood, the stateâs fastest-growing municipality and home to a significantly large Orthodox Jewish community. As the population there has grown, housing has become more dense and expensive, leading some Orthodox Jews to move to neighboring towns, including Jackson.
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‘They know we need our space’
In a neighborhood where ramshackle structures and empty lots are commonplace, the bright new houses of the Hamilton 7 rise in hopeful contrast. They have small porches out front and in the rear are decks overlooking their backyards. The families say they are especially happy about having garages after spending years as tenants trying to find parking places in a cramped and crowded city like Paterson.
The Hamilton 7 neighborhood remains plagued by around-the-clock, open-air drug sales. For a while, heroin buyers continued parking their cars on the north side of the street, where the Habitat homes are located. But gradually that changed.