Local Racial Bias Incident

To the Scotch Plains Community,

 We react with anger and despair over the news this weekend that a member of our community was targeted with racist hatred, which was soaped on the window of their private car, parked at their own home. We cannot be silent.

 Last year, the town councils of Scotch Plains and Fanwood, led by Mayors Smith and Mahr, along with the Board of Education, the Ministerium, and Social Justice Matters (SJM), formed a Joint Committee on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) in reaction to increasing events of racism and hate appearing in our community. We were formed to do the hard work of engaging our community in the pursuit of our common humanity. 

 We condemn trespassing on someone else's property to spew a message of hatred.  Rather, we send the strong message that such hate - expressed publicly or under the cover of darkness - is not welcome in our community.  To be clear - we embrace all the different members of our community, and we reject those words and actions that divide us.

 Please join with the members of the TRHT Committee, the leadership of Fanwood and Scotch Plains, Social Justice Matters, and the Anti-Racism Community Collaborative (ARCC) as we stand for the community we want it to be. We support this family and reject hatred.

 Joint TRHT Committee:

Mayor Colleen Mahr, Fanwood

Mayor Al Smith, Scotch Plains

Dr. Joan Mast, Superintendent, Scotch Plains-Fanwood Schools

Rabbi Joel N. Abraham, SPF Ministerium Rep.

Rev. Susanna Cates, Scotch Plains at Large Rep.

Jill Jackson Jones, Fanwood at Large Rep.

Erin McElroy Barker, Fanwood Council Rep.

Leland S. McGee, TRHT Committee Facilitator

Joan Peters, Social Justice Matters Rep.

Sharon Stroye, TRHT Center at Rutgers University - Newark

Stephanie Suriani, SPF Board of Education Rep.

Roshan White, Scotch Plains Council Rep.