People of color can’t go back to ‘normal’ after COVID | Opinion Updated Mar 15, 2021; Posted Mar 15, 2021 “Normal” was white New Jerseyans having a median net wealth of $106,210 in 2016, while typical Black and Latinx residents of our state had $179, say Laura Sullivan, director of the Economic Justice Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, and Kiran Handa Gaudioso, CEO of the United Way of Northern New Jersey. Facebook Share As Americans and as New Jerseyans, we are emerging from a long, cold winter. Our nation has lost more than 530,000 souls to the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to rage. Our state and national economies are reeling from unprecedented unemployment and small business losses. In the space of a year, our lives have been fundamentally altered.