Clark, NJ voters have one shot to prove they’re not racist (Opinion)

I know Clark, New Jersey, well. I lived there for a year. My hometown of Rahway borders it. My mom lives in another bordering town, Linden.

There are some good people there. There’s also a history and a despicably racist mayor by the name of Sal Bonaccorso.

Remember the news he’s made twice now? First for the $400,000 in taxpayer money the town used to hide his using vile racist slurs from going public.

Reportedly caught in voice recordings calling Black people “spooks” and the N-word, he denied it at first then later admitted to using the language and apologized. But in that same apology video, which to me dripped with bad acting and insincerity, he claimed “I always treat people respectfully and fairly.”

So it’s just behind their backs that he calls them N-words? Huh.

Not only did Bonaccorso make news for his racism, later he would be criminally charged with official misconduct, records tampering, witness tampering, forgery and falsifying records amid allegations he used city resources for the benefit of his landscaping business.

Now he’s making news again by announcing he’s running for re-election.

Voters will have something to prove. Either get a criminally charged racist out of office or be complicit in the racism. Your choice, Clark.

Clark has a reputation as a “sundown town” where if you’re Black you’d better not be caught there after dark. About 44% of arrests in Clark are of Black suspects even though 93% of its population is white and the Black population is less than 2%. When I lived there, it was even less.

Hard to imagine since I came from Rahway. I only lived there one year when I was a kid but I remember the attitudes, the racism whispered by adults, and never felt comfortable in that town. It was anecdotally known that no one back then sold their homes to Black families. I heard this openly discussed.

There are plenty of good people in Clark. Are there enough though to vote Bonaccorso out of office? I hope so. Because if Clark re-elects him, then too many people there are morally bankrupt.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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