BLACK PARANOIA

“They will be placed in area with a large African American population”. That anonymous comment to Plaintalker II (Bernice’s) blog about the long overdue cams is symptomatic about the paranoia which has played into the hands of those who would rather see Plainfield as their fief rather than a progressive community.

It matters not that for at least the last two decades the population of this city has been an African-American dominated one. True the last census showed a drop from over 61.8% in 2000 to an estimated 50.2% in 2010.  

Those identifying themselves as white which may include significant numbers of Hispanic/Latinos dropped from 25, 5% TO 11.7%. Those that designated themselves as “some other race” rose from 10.7% to over 20%.

During the same span of time the Hispanic/Latino population has increased from 25% to 43.7%. Some claimed to be white, while the others elected a “some other race” designation.

The problem that exists here could be that this city’s “majority” who like to call themselves the “Minority” continue to blame state and national statistics for all their woes.

The surveillance cameras which might have made downtown Plainfield a more attractive place for suburbanites have been kicked around for over 6 years by the previous administration. Fund were appropriated and supposedly the installation would take place, but that saga has been well described in other blogs.

Plainfield’s lack of control over real and perceived crime has led to the conditions where there seems to be increased police involvement with blacks. In many ways there is a similarity with Ferguson’s percentage discrepancy from the total population of blacks versus whites being subjected to police action.

Plainfield is not Ferguson.  In most communities the African-American police officers constitute a percentage number that is far below the local population. However that cannot be a problem in this city since; Plainfield, has an almost equal number of black (48 percent) and white (42 percent) police officers. But the force still under represents Hispanics, who are more than 40 percent of the city but less than 10 percent of the police division. (Courier September 4, 2014).

It cannot be argued that a prejudicial Plainfield police target blacks over other races. That targeting is probably true in surrounding communities such as Watchung or Fanwood where it seems  almost all cars pulled over are driven by blacks; mostly young males. An actual record of driver stoppages by race and age in surrounding communities would be of interest.   

Until, dissatisfied residents stop playing the woebegone race card in Plainfield and work instead for a progressive heterogeneous town, no recovery in employment and wages will occur locally. 

Most important is that the Black community must accept the fact that there is such a significant Hispanic/Latino community in Plainfield that it should not be denied its  fair share  representation.