N.J. Supreme Court must reject systemic racism in affordable housing debate

 

N.J. Supreme Court must reject systemic racism in affordable housing debate | Opinion

By Richard T. Smith and Christian 

Estevez

 

After 16 long years of Trenton gridlock, New Jersey municipalities are finally making meaningful progress addressing our state's pressing housing affordability crisis.

 

Thanks to a New Jersey Supreme Court decision handed down last year that turned over enforcement of our state's fair-housing laws to the judiciary, hundreds of municipalities are in the process of developing plans to provide tens of thousands of homes to meet the needs of working families, seniors and those with disabilities.

 

More than 70 towns have already reached agreements on their affordable housing obligations, which add up to more than 20,000 units. These settlements clear the way to quickly begin development on projects that provide decent, stable homes for New Jersey families in safe neighborhoods with access to jobs and good schools.

All of these recent advancements illustrate that a consensus is forming in New Jersey that municipalities can and should tackle their responsibility to provide fair-housing opportunities for families under the state constitution's Mount Laurel doctrine.

 

At heart, New Jersey's fair-housing laws aren't just about building homes. They're also about expanding ladders of opportunity to the middle class for the many thousands of families who are priced out of our state's many thriving communities.

 

While our state boasts some of the most desirable towns in the nation,  longstanding patterns of exclusionary zoning have shut too many New Jersey families out of the American Dream. These unconstitutional obstacles have hit minority communities -- especially African-Americans and Latinos -- the hardest.

 

Yet the progress we have made is being threatened by a group of recalcitrant municipalities that are seeking to undermine the Mount Laurel doctrine by pursuing a strategy of delay and obstruction. These towns are arguing they should not be held responsible for any of the state's fair-housing needs that accrued during a 16-year gap period beginning in 1999,  when bureaucratic gridlock kept New Jersey's fair-housing laws from being enforced.

 

In essence, these towns are arguing they should be able to ignore the many challenges New Jersey families confronted during this time, ranging from the Great Recession to the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy and the state's ongoing foreclosure crisis.

 

These legal arguments would artificially paper over up to 60 percent of the state's housing need. This means that tens of thousands of New Jersey families will never have the chance to move into homes they can afford in the state's many thriving communities. And it will cement our state's long history of racial and socioeconomic segregation for another generation.

 

That's why our organizations have joined together to submit a friend of the court brief laying out the impact of this case on the struggle for racial integration in New Jersey. That brief has been accepted by the court.

Almost as disturbing is the housing study that these towns are relying on to make these dangerous arguments. The study, written by Philadelphia-based Econsult Solutions, relies on a deeply flawed understanding that ignores the systemic racism which disadvantages New Jersey's minority communities, especially African-Americans and Latinos.

 

It argues that houses which have recently sold for up to a half-million dollars should be classified as affordable.

 

And Econsult principal Peter Angelides testified recently at an Ocean County fair-housing proceeding that there was "no measure" to indicate that New Jersey's minority communities still suffered from housing discrimination -- an astounding,  out-of-touch statement directly contradicting statistics showing that our state is one of the most segregated in the nation.

 

The New Jersey Supreme Court is set to take up the question of whether towns must truly do their fair share to respond to our state's housing crisis on Nov. 30.

 

The justices must reject these towns' radical ideology and vindicate their own 2015 landmark fair-housing ruling. The process the court established must be allowed to continue so that we can finally bring an end to the decades of litigation surrounding this issue.

 

It's time to turn to the work of building a state in which black and Latino families are no longer excluded.

 

Richard T. Smith is president of the NAACP New Jersey State Conference 

(info@NJNAACP.org).

 

Christian Estevez is president of the Latino Action Network (esteveznj@gmail.com).

 

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http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/11/nj_supreme_court_must_reject_systemic_racism_in_af.html#incart_river_home

Registration is now open for the 2017 LAN Legislative Conference

2017 LAN Legislative Conference

You are cordially invited to the 2017 Latino Action Network’s Annual Legislative Conference. The conference will take place on Saturday, January 28, 2017 at the Robert Treat Hotel Conference Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Admission is FREE and open to all. Registration is required as seats are limited.

2017 LAN Legislative Conference Online Registration Form

Given the current climate created by the election of Donald Trump as the next President of the United States, it is more important than ever that Latinos have a space to meet to make our plans to resist attacks against us and other vulnerable communities.

The LAN Legislative Conference is the largest gathering of Latino community organizers and public policy advocates in the State of New Jersey. Last year's conference was attended by over 250 activists from every corner of the state.

The conference will include a full program, with keynote presentations and dynamic workshops with panels discussing a full array of issues in accordance with our Legislative Agenda for 2017. 

We will be hosting a variety of panels aimed at supplementing and enhancing our legislative agenda. The panels will focus on immigration, education, health disparities, the state budget process, labor issues and affordable housing. We are asking you consider attend one of the panels based on your legislative priorities.

This event is hosted by the Latino Action Network (LAN) in collaboration with The Latino Institute, Inc., a private, non-profit, charitable organization, and the Latino Coalition, a member organization of the LAN.

We are looking forward to your presence, as we work together to benefit the Latino community.

Pa’lante,

Christian Estevez, President

Latino Action Network

Register for New Jersey Working Families Summit!

Register for New Jersey Working Families Summit! 

Join NJ advocates from across the state as We Take Back the Garden State!

Policy and solution discussions in the areas of Education, Housing, Transportation, Economic Justice and much more!

Connect to progressives, leaders and activists from across the state.  Share information on how to rebuild a post-Christie New Jersey. Develop a progressive platform to demand change in Trenton.

Follow the link below to register:

https://actionnetwork.org/forms/register-for-new-jersey-working-families-summit

IF WE SNOOZE, WE LOSE - UNDERSTANDING THE REAL POWER OF THE LATINO VOTE – PART I

By Nayeli Salazar de León (Nelli's Notes)

As we approach the General Election on November 8, many Latino Americans find ourselves anxiously reflecting on our families' migration stories, our personal ethics and morals, and our political values. For some, this will be the first time they are eligible to vote as naturalized citizens, and for others, it will be the first time they will exercise their right as citizens by casting a vote. "A projected 13 million Latino Americans are expected at the ballots this November, 450,000 of which are from New Jersey," confirms Roberto Frugone, Northeast Regional Director of the NALEO Educational Fund. Projected voter turnout is calculated by NALEO based on the overall number of eligible Latino voters (Potential #) and the average number of active voters from the last three election cycles (Actual #).

During a press conference in 2014 at Senator Menendez's Hispanic Heritage Celebration, Univision's Jorge Ramos, an acclaimed Mexican-born American news anchor, was asked "¿Cuál es tu mensaje a los Latinos de este país para que participen en la votación?" (What is your message to the Latinos of this country, so that they participate in the vote?) Ramos responded, "Nuestro gran reto es pasar de muchos números a poder político real. Somos muchos pero no tenemos el poder político que nos corresponde." (Our biggest challenge is to transition from strength in numbers to real political power. There are many of us, but we do not have the corresponding political power.) One important part of the political power to which Ramos refers is reflected in the overall number of eligible Latino voters (potential voters) and the percentage of those that actually cast a ballot (actual number). Figures 1 and 2 illustrate November's projected Latino voters as a percentage of potential voters, estimating just 48% participation nationally and 55% statewide in New Jersey. Acceptable? I will let you decide!

Nevertheless, as Figure 3 shows, this year's projected Latino turnout in New Jersey reflects an increase of 4% over the 2012 General Election, when 51% of all eligible Latino voters in New Jersey hit the polls. What is striking is not only the 9% who were registered and did not vote, but rather, the additional 39% who either had not registered or were marked as "no response". So, what are some of the causes linked to this lack of participation? According to Ray Carrera, an elected Commissioner for the Passaic Board of Education, there are three principal disabling factors: "1) History of political corruption in country of origin, 2) Need for democratic process and voter registration education, and 3) Trust that a collective vote can make difference." 

These challenges can be overcome with these consistent and positive community-driven messages: 1) We are American citizens; 2) We can trust the American democratic system; 3) We can safely seek guidance and resources on processes we may not understand; and 4) We can be confident in our socioeconomic contributions to this country. Through this messaging, we, as a collective, might begin to more effectively influence our country's politics and leadership. Regardless of what drives you to abstain from or participate in this year's election, one thing is certain: our vote is our voice, and to stay home is to forego your right to make that voice heard.

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Note: Nayeli Salazar serves as Vice President of the Latino Action Network.  

Let’s chat! Find me on Facebook, email me at nayeli.salazar@skalatranslation.com or call me at 973.769.0046

A special thanks to all my demographical contributors and editor and dear friend Michael Reimer