Statement by NJYD Black Caucus about two racially-charged insensitive acts:

The New Jersey Young Democrats Black Caucus would like to praise the public servant who filed a formal complaint, which ultimately led to federal hate crime and civil rights charges being brought against disgraced former Chief of the Bordentown Township Police, Frank Nucera Jr. There should be no place, whatsoever, in public service for anyone that facilitates or condones systematic racism, in all its forms. We applaud the complaining Officer in this matter for being a great example as to what real public service should look like, as well as to how important our voices can be in standing up for citizens and their civil liberties. Undoubtedly, this was all ignored by Nucera throughout his tenure as police chief.

We also fiercely condemn the recent Edison Township campaign mailer which surfaced depicting two school board candidates of South Asian descent as targets for deportation. This sort of hate-speech reflects the same xenophobic intolerance that pervades many of today’s societal issues. Here in New Jersey, diversity is one of our strongest assets and should be one of our essential values. And as Democrats, we do our best to fight against intolerance and injustice and to promote inclusion and equity. We will remain steadfast in our resolve to resist this form of behavior and appeal to the greater values of this state and country.