Immigration
Racist Posters Surface in New Jersey Again; Govt Slams ‘Offensive Rhetoric’
Racist poster
“Offensive rhetoric of this sort has no place in our community where we celebrate our diversity,” said the city government spokesperson.
For at least the second time in recent past, racist posters were put up at New Jersey in United States, which said that America is a white nation. It told residents that it was their “civic duty” to report “illegal aliens.” The posters, which were put up on lamp posts in New Brunswick, were quickly removed by city work crews.
New Jersey is one of the most diverse cities in the country, with one third population being foreign- born. The city has high numbers of Latino population, along with African and Asian-origin residents.
In the first week of November this year, a poster saying that Indian-origin woman Falguni Patel and Asian-origin man Jerry Shi, who were contesting elections for the school board, should be deported as they are illegal immigrants. The poster in Edison said “Make Edison Great Again.”
Also in November, Ravi Bhalla, the first Sikh mayor to win in Hoboken, New Jersey — was also targeted by racist posters that declared him a terrorist.
The latest poster calls “illegal aliens” criminals. It also listed the website bloodandsoil.org, run by supremacist group Patriot Front.
“What the hell?,” asked Robin Colarusso, as she read the poster’s message. “It’s just not right,” said Daniel Gadzanku, a U.S. citizen of Ghana origin, according to Pix11. “That’s not what this country represents.”
Local community groups replaced the latest posters with their own messages saying “No Place for White Supremacy, No Place for Oppression,” and “America is an Immigrant Nation.”
Locals in the area commended the gesture by the group, saying “I really like what that stands for and that it says it’s against hate, because that’s really what we’re all about,” the report added.
City government spokesperson Jennifer Bradshaw said in a statement: “Upon learning of the presence of the flyers our City officials had them promptly removed from the places upon which they were posted. Offensive rhetoric of this sort has no place in our community where we celebrate our diversity.”
