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Kevin Walsh of Fair Share Housing Center cites new census figures
BY TOM HESTER SR.
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
A study of census data finds racial segregation in New Jersey is as bad as it was four decades ago, Kevin D. Walsh of the Cherry Hill-based Fair Share Housing Center said Monday.
In 1970, two years after the death of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his hometown of Atlanta was one of the most segregated areas in the country, with a segregation index between African-Americans and whites of 82.1 on a scale of 100, Walsh said. The Newark metropolitan area was not far behind at 81.4
A new analysis of newly-released census data found that Atlanta's segregation index has declined to 60 — an over five point decline in the past decade alone, Walsh said. Meanwhile, in the Newark metropolitan area, the segregation level has declined less than 2 points to 79.6, Walsh said, or barely any change.
"It is a dream not yet realized because the force of law still operates to separate our state by race," Walsh said. "The law may not operate with the recklessness of Bull Connor, but it still packs much of the same power. Unlike the vast majority of the country, New Jersey has an active policy of segregation through the drastic restriction of land being used to house certain classes of people.
"If we are to speak with the candor that this day demands, it must be said that the actions of too many — though certainly far from all — local governments in New Jersey and organizations like the League of Municipalities have the effect of segregating our state by race and class," Walsh said. "And those actions have a significant cost — making New Jersey less desirable for businesses, providing fewer choices for families of all backgrounds and colors, and furthering the destruction of our environment due to poor land use."
The Fair Share Housing Center was founded in 1975. It is the only public interest organization devoted entirely to defending the housing rights of New Jersey's poor through implementing the Mount Laurel doctrine, which requires that each municipality provide its fair share of affordable housing to low- and moderate-income people.
