Movements for civil rights are not new. They date back generations, even centuries. In recent decades, the United States has seen cries for help, with protests breaking out around the country over police brutality and racial injustice. The movements start and then they seem to lose steam. Most people go back to their lives – until the next time.

In late May, George Floyd was killed in police custody. The horrifying moment, caught on video, went viral. The protests that started in Floyd’s hometown of Minneapolis quickly spread across the state, the country and the world. This time, people seem to be engaged in a different way.

This time people are making changes they were never willing to make. Schools and sports teams, that had refused in the past, are changing their names. People are being promoted to advance racial literacy in their environments, not held back. There seems to be a momentum like never before.

The first major protest in Princeton was on June 1^st, and in short time the municipal government, schools and businesses declared they would act differently. In the two and a half months since, where has this movement taken us? We take a local look at what has changed and what still needs to happen in this issue of Princeton Perspectives, When the Dust Settles – How a Community Turns Awareness into Action.

In The Pulse of Princeton video, you can see and hear the perspectives of African Americans, as teachers, parents, civic leaders and more from our town answer – What needs to change in Princeton today to combat racism?

The Reverend Lukata Mjumbe, pastor of the historically black Witherspoon Presbyterian Church, has spent a lifetime fighting for racial justice. He shares his message in our first article, Knowing Justice, Knowing Peace.

Knowing and doing are two different things. The Municipal Reaction to Racism takes us inside local government. Through interviews with Mayor Liz Lempert, Police Chief Nick Sutter and more we find out what Princeton has done and how the municipality intends to change.

Change is not easy but perhaps it can come if we start earlier. Educating today’s children in social justice and having institutions that educate about racism could make a difference. Schools in Princeton: Their Roles in Combatting Racism shares the ways some schools in town are reviewing their roles and altering their ways.

To make change, groups must talk and learn from each other. In Five Point Guide to White Allyship social justice leaders from our area provide concrete ways to begin the path forward, working together.

Despite all of the hardships that have been cast upon us these past few months, we hope you are finding ways to enjoy the summer. Before we know it, the warm days will give way to fall. In our August issue, we’ll help you prepare for the change as we take a look at some of the COVID-19 realities of returning to school, how you can best prepare or how you could be making other arrangements. We’ll also help you plan your last hurrah – making the end of summer days to remember!

Stay healthy and Safe!

Lisa Jacknow

Lisa Jacknow spent years working in national and local news in and around New York City before moving to Princeton. Working as both a TV producer and news reporter, Lisa came to this area to focus on the local news of Mercer County at WZBN-TV. In recent years, she got immersed in the Princeton community by serving leadership roles at local schools in addition to volunteering for other local non-profits. In her free time, Lisa loves to spend time with her family, play tennis, sing and play the piano. A graduate of the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Lisa was raised just north of Boston, Massachusetts but has lived in the tri-state area since college. She is excited to be Editor and head writer for Princeton Perspectives!

Teachers, parents, civic leaders, and more…Black voices share their perspectives. Play the video to hear them.

Lisa Jacknow

Lisa Jacknow spent years working in national and local news in and around New York City before moving to Princeton. Working as both a TV producer and news reporter, Lisa came to this area to focus on the local news of Mercer County at WZBN-TV. In recent years, she got immersed in the Princeton community by serving leadership roles at local schools in addition to volunteering for other local non-profits. In her free time, Lisa loves to spend time with her family, play tennis, sing and play the piano. A graduate of the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Lisa was raised just north of Boston, Massachusetts but has lived in the tri-state area since college. She is excited to be Editor and head writer for Princeton Perspectives!

According to Federal census records, in 1838 the twelve last known slaves were recorded in Princeton Township, NJ. As they and the slaves before them gained their freedom, they began to settle on Witherspoon Street. Through the 1800s, the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood became home to Princeton’s Black community.

It was a segregated part of town. In 1858 the first school, exclusively for Black children, was created. Unwelcomed in most stores, restaurants, beauty parlors and bars in town, in the 1900s they built their own. In 1916, Princeton High School was integrated, but lower schools did not do so until 1948, when mandated by law.

In the 1930s, large numbers of African Americans were displaced, moved further from where many worked at the university to Birch Avenue, as downtown development took over their neighborhood. Though Princeton as a society has integrated through the years, many African Americans today contend the rising costs of housing pushes them out and that education and employment opportunities remain unequal.

Last month, thousands of locals gathered at the gates of Princeton University to protest racism, to demand better treatment of Blacks and that as a community we work harder to ensure all opportunities – housing, education and economic – be as available to them as to their neighbors of other races. The protests occurred at the same gates that had at one time been locked to keep out the nearby African American residents from town.

The recent rallying cry led the municipal government to take a closer look at its role in enacting change. On June 8, 2020 Princeton Town Council passed a resolution declaring racism a public health crisis. It is a means for the municipality to assess internal policies and procedures and advocate for relevant ways to dismantle racism.

“It’s not like this was a sudden realization. We have been working to try to reverse the decades and centuries of problems,” explains Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert, noting the re-establishment of the Civil Rights Commission as a stand-alone advisory body in 2017.

Since the passing of the resolution, the Civil Rights Commission has been tasked with trying to find the right national framework on racial equity to guide municipal practice.

“I found it useful for other initiatives we have worked on to be plugged into a wider network. We can learn from other communities and they can learn from us. It helps what we’re doing here have a greater impact and vice versa,” adds Lempert.

As a government entity, Princeton is trying to be more intentional in diversity and hiring. Though it remains largely Caucasian, the percentage of African Americans and Hispanics hired by Princeton is greater than those represented in the general population as compared to the 2019 Census numbers for Princeton:

Racial Demographics of Princeton Municipal Staff

2019 Census Numbers for Princeton, NJ

Source: United States Census Bureau, 2019

Lempert knows they can still do better. Employees are required to attend diversity training twice a year. To fill open roles, the municipality is advertising and recruiting with professional networks that will help diversify its candidate pool.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mayor notes racial disparities have become even more apparent with people of color in New Jersey being disproportionately hurt by both the medical and financial aspects of the pandemic. To help, the town is offering quarantine housing for anyone with a positive COVID-19 test, facilitating the development of a small business resiliency fund – with priority given to women and minority owned businesses – and other services.

To help create a more diverse stock of housing options, Lempert looks to the increase of affordable housing recently approved and partially funded by Princeton. The allocation of funds in the municipal budget also plays a role in various agencies abilities to respond to the needs of the community. Retirements and restructuring of some departments help adjust the budgets annually.

One department budget that is receiving a closer look due to recent protests is the police. At the time of consolidation in 2013, combining the township and the borough’s police departments into one helped guide reductions in spending. Each year the numbers are analyzed, and already a 3-4% reduction was put in place from last year to this year for the police.

“Looking at a budget and saying maybe we don’t need 6 cars this year, instead we can pay for a 2^nd responder. That’s program budgeting,” states Princeton Police Chief Nick Sutter. “Let’s not conflate that with defund the police.”

Sutter has been in the department for 25 years, at the helm for the past seven. He says he’s been pushing for five years to have a better system of 2^nd responders, those that follow up after a situation has been de-escalated to find proper assistance for the person in need.

“In my experience it’s become a revolving door – we don’t solve the problem. We deal with it in the moment, make it safe and often respond back to same person again. We need a crisis intervention team,” Sutter adds. “I don’t know a social worker that’d walk into an unsecure scene that’s violent. That’s unrealistic.”

The police have developed a strong relationship with Corner House for those with drug dependency issues, but more help is needed with situations such as homelessness and personal crisis. That would fall to 2nd responders. Lempert says with today’s increased support, perhaps now is the time they’ll find more funding for them. To have a responder like a social worker first on the scene, as suggested by supporters of the “Defund the Police” movement is less likely. While Lempert, Sutter and others agree it would be wonderful to have a team of mental health professionals available 24/7 to respond with the police, in a municipality like Princeton, the budget capabilities are not there. Head of Human Services, Melissa Urias, whose only other staffer is a part-time administrative assistant, says resources severely limit follow-up and intervention capabilities.

“Throughout the nation, mental health and social services are under-resourced. Unfortunately, here in Princeton, it is no different. Police officers are meant to act as guardians of public safety but are often the first to respond to individuals dealing with complex issues,” Urias explains.

The police often refer people to Human Services or reach out directly after a situation. To better address the needs of those in the Black community, Urias says she is meeting with other leaders and partners to be sure to understand their needs and focus on desired improvements. Sutter admits his department can always do better but states it has included the community in its planning process and policy decisions for years.

Loretta T. lives nearby and her children attend Princeton Public Schools. She agrees that community-oriented policing is a must. “When law enforcement presence goes beyond emergencies, police officers and communities are able to truly connect with one another and therefore view each other as whole individuals rather than the narrative be pushed by the media. It invites an opportunity to have authentic experiences which shape broader perceptions.”

The national narrative has caused the department to take another look at its failures and look at how it can improve. Recruitment, policy, supervision and training – all guided by community input, are constantly evaluated.  4-5 retirements are expected this year, including that of Chief Sutter, but the 55-person department has made an effort to reflect the community in its hiring. As of the latest reports from 2019, the Princeton Police Department has hired more people of color than are represented amongst its residents:

Racial Demographics of Princeton Police Department

As for policy, Princeton police say they are listening, but have been proactive too. The policy towards immigration and law enforcement, for example, was put in place with locals back in 2013, before it became a national issue. Redefining Use of Force, Vehicle Pursuit and Forcible Stopping was officially done in 2017 but all have been highlighted through the department’s training for at least seven years. Now, Sutter and his team are looking to see if they can get stricter in some areas than what the state mandates. In terms of training his officers, he believes their focus has often stemmed from national community needs and instead they should add more training based on local community experiences. Improvements can also be made in vetting out unconscious biases and training officers to better recognize and deal with theirs.

The Town Council resolution aiming to dismantle racism, applies to all municipal departments, not just the police. Each is being asked to take a closer look. As soon as town council approves a framework recommendation from the Civil Rights Commission, Lempert claims it will have the tools to better review ordinances and other needs through a racial equity lens.

“I think having a framework will be helpful and almost essential to get us to move from conversation into action,” declares Lempert. “It’s important we take this opportunity and we look at ourselves and our institutions with open eyes, and we use this period where everything is being shaken up already – no one has ever lived through a period like this before – and when we come out of it we don’t just return to February 2020.”

Lisa Jacknow

Lisa Jacknow spent years working in national and local news in and around New York City before moving to Princeton. Working as both a TV producer and news reporter, Lisa came to this area to focus on the local news of Mercer County at WZBN-TV. In recent years, she got immersed in the Princeton community by serving leadership roles at local schools in addition to volunteering for other local non-profits. In her free time, Lisa loves to spend time with her family, play tennis, sing and play the piano. A graduate of the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Lisa was raised just north of Boston, Massachusetts but has lived in the tri-state area since college. She is excited to be Editor and head writer for Princeton Perspectives!

Princeton University (PU) made national headlines in late June, as it officially removed the name of Woodrow Wilson from its School of Public and International Affairs and its residential college. Though he was a distinguished President of PU who went on to become the 28^th President of the United States and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Board of Trustees reconsidered a determination it made in 2016 and decided he should no longer be the namesake for its school due to his racist thinking and policies.

Princeton Public Schools (PPS) is now contemplating a similar situation as its Board of Education has been asked to consider if John Witherspoon, the 6^th President of The College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, should be removed as the namesake for the town’s middle school. Whether Witherspoon’s record as both a slave owner and a man who educated free Black men disqualifies him or allows him to keep the naming rights is now being debated.

As heightened voices shout out against racism, The Hun School of Princeton (Hun) announced it is changing the name of its chief administrator. Jon Brougham has long been known as “Headmaster.” Merriam-Webster defines the term as “a man who is the head of a U.S. private school” but the use of the word “master” has sparked criticism. In a letter to Hun families, Brougham explained he’s been questioning it’s meaning for years, and a decision to change it finally came in June after students and staff petitioned that the title denotes negative connotations of race and gender. Like most other independent schools in our area, Brougham is now to be referred to as “Head of School.”

PU President Christopher Eisgruber explained in his message to the Princeton community that names shape the identity of a school. So, the schools remove their connections to names and words that are considered racist, but how does that progress anti-racism?

“When you change a name there are conversations,” explains Timothy Charleston, John Witherspoon (JW) Middle School’s new Assistant Principal who has been PPS Supervisor of Social Studies PreK-8 for the past six years and is one of the supporters of the petition to change his school’s name. “Forcing people to have a conversation about racism – that’s how we move ahead as a society.”

And the conversations, at least in Princeton, have begun. While streets here and around the country filled in protest against police brutality, demanding justice for the killing of George Floyd and declaring that Black Lives Matter, the school year was ending. Students and staff were home, contemplating the heavy world around them alone, due to remote learning. Only weeks remained until PPS Superintendent Steve Cochrane would retire on June 30^th, but he felt an obligation to respond to the call.

To begin to acknowledge any wrongs and to help process the emotions, PPS immediately sought the help of two longtime consultants to meet with its administrative team and help them begin to examine their roles regarding racism as both individuals and as an institution. Trauma expert, Dr. Tara Doaty, and Marceline DuBoise, who had conducted the district’s equity audit, met with Cochrane and his team as a group as well as separately with the administrators of color. Later in June, sessions were offered to all staff and to students from both JW Middle School and Princeton High School so they could learn from each other, have an opportunity to share what they need and move towards action.

Hun has also committed to listen to its faculty and students to move towards change and has recently held meetings with components of its student body, their families and staff to guide new initiatives. The Director of its Cultural Competency Committee, Otis Douce, has also been promoted to Director of Cultural Competency and Global Diversity as a member of the administrative team to help move them forward. Amongst his other projects, Douce has been the leader of Hun’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Summit for the past five years, designed to enlighten students about oppression and privilege and how they can be the ones to enact change.

Since the Amistad Bill was passed in New Jersey in 2002 there has been a requirement for schools to teach about African slave trade, slavery in America and about the contributions of African Americans on society. Those guidelines took history education a step further, but schools are now feeling a need to go beyond that to teach anti-racism and social activism.

“When we think about our mission of graduating students into the world so they can live lives of joy and succeed, we talk about math literacy, economic literacy, etc.” explains recently retired Superintendent Cochrane. “There should be a responsibility on the part of school systems to provide our students with racial literacy to navigate a racially complex world. If we’re not teaching that, we’re promoting racism by our silence.”

As the district analyzes new ways to incorporate racial literacy, Cochrane notes it shifted its focus in recent years to ensure there are a range of books by authors of different backgrounds and experiences being assigned and made available to students. In 2018 it also incorporated Princeton Choose, a book created by two former PHS students, to begin discussions on racial literacy by engaging 5^th grade students in learning about different cultures. Preparedness for this kind of learning actually starts as early as kindergarten, through discussions about diversity, skin color, gender roles and making sure the imagery surrounding classrooms is not stereotypical.

Getting to know and understand each other is a key component of the Community Period established in 2019 at JW Middle School. By connecting people outside their typical social circles, and helping them know and understand each other, the administration hopes students will engage in active listening and become more socially aware. Charleston led one of the Community Period groups last year.

“We focused on looking at restorative practices and building that community, understanding where people are coming from,” he details. “We want to continue to try and incorporate that in the coming school year to an even greater degree.”

For older students, a Racial Literacy & Justice (RLJ) elective has been offered to grades 10-12 at Princeton High School since 2018. Teachers Dr. Joy Barnes-Johnson and Ms. Patty Manhart spent years working with students and other educators to create the class. To date, 70 students chose to take the course to discuss race history in the United States and explore racial domination and racial progress. It seems natural now a course such as this should become a requirement for all students, not just those that select it. But Cochrane believes PPS doesn’t yet have enough teaching teams with a deep level of understanding. Dr. Barnes-Johnson believes the community also needs to be more prepared.

“Race talk is difficult for people because of the unfortunate shame and guilt that comes with facing ones’ own biases. We want students to want to be antiracist in their thinking which is why we value the voluntary nature of the higher-level Racial Literacy & Justice course,” adds Barnes-Johnson. “The curriculum is not just a single class, textbook or activity. It includes disciplinary policies, resource allocations, staffing decisions and programs of studies that keep classes from being fully desegregated.”

Graduates of the RLJ elective are now being paired with peer group advisors in the high school so they can begin conversations around issues of race with freshman as they come in.

As another step forward, to expand the minds of educators about multicultural education and to create an opportunity for more students to engage in this learning, an online class is being created by Dr. Barnes-Johnson and Ms. Manhart. Based on Dr. Yolanda Ruiz-Sealy’s “Archeology of Self” model, the online course will be broken into three segments. Those taking all parts would be required to self-reflect, study racial literacy and share their learning.

Educating staff in racial literacy is one component, but the administrators at PPS and Hun both share the ideal that growing the racial diversity amongst their staff is also essential. As of late June, PPS had hired 15 new teachers for the 2020-2021 school year. 10 of them are educators of color. An analysis of the student body was recently done in an attempt to understand the racial breakdown of each school with a goal to have its faculty more representative of its students. The district shared that currently 84% of its staff is white, yet the most recent data indicates nearly half of the student population is not.

NJ School Performance Report,
Princeton Public Schools Enrollment by Racial and Ethnic Group

Source: NJ Department of Education

Hun has not historically collected data on the racial identities of its students, but it is intensifying efforts to recruit and hire more diverse educators and leadership, citing this has been a priority but they must improve.

“Most of our efforts aim at broadening the pool of diverse candidates. We attend minority recruitment conferences and networking events, advertise openings at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and contact diversity offices of other universities to seek qualified candidates,” says Douce. “We have also recently created a fellowship program for teachers new to the profession that is focused on recruiting diverse graduates.”

Hun is additionally adding training for its current staff. It promises to examine the themes and content of its curriculum at all levels and is reviewing its policies and rules to ensure they are aligned with having a bias-free environment. A new anti-bias statement, written by students, is now being incorporated into the Princeton High School code of conduct as well.

To help its staff, parents and students process today’s situation and move forward, PPS has been compiling information to create an anti-racism resource page on the district website – another project started under Superintendent Cochrane. He since retired at the end of June and Interim Superintendent Barry Galasso officially started July 1^st. But where one ended, the other plans to begin.

“Princeton Public Schools have been leaders in promoting equity and racial literacy and that tradition will continue to evolve,” states Galasso. “I’m looking forward to expanding and building on the district’s current curriculum to promote racial literacy.”

It’s been less than two months since the recent tragedies and enlightenment created an awareness to do better. The conversations have started. Time will tell their impact.

Lisa Jacknow

Lisa Jacknow spent years working in national and local news in and around New York City before moving to Princeton. Working as both a TV producer and news reporter, Lisa came to this area to focus on the local news of Mercer County at WZBN-TV. In recent years, she got immersed in the Princeton community by serving leadership roles at local schools in addition to volunteering for other local non-profits. In her free time, Lisa loves to spend time with her family, play tennis, sing and play the piano. A graduate of the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Lisa was raised just north of Boston, Massachusetts but has lived in the tri-state area since college. She is excited to be Editor and head writer for Princeton Perspectives!