Young Activists Protest In Newark: ‘We Want Counselors, Not Cops’

NEWARK, NJ — Ma’Khia Bryant. Adam Toledo. Anthony J. Thompson. Daunte Wright. These are some of the Black and Brown youth whose deaths inspired an outcry for “counselors not cops” in Newark this week.

On Thursday, a coalition of young activists and their supporters rallied near Lincoln Park, demanding more funding for “bold and transformative investment in supportive services” at their schools instead of more police.

The group included youth leaders with Make the Road New Jersey, advocates from Salvation and Social Justice, local high school students and their families.

The protest came as school districts across New Jersey prepare to return to class in-person full-time in September, and a huge wave of federal funding from the American Rescue Plan starts to arrive in the Garden State.

• See related article: Newark Schools Will Get $177 Million Infusion Of Federal Stimulus Funds

It’s time to put some of those funds into mental health counselors, school social workers and “social emotional programming” that may be able to prevent future tragedies involving youth in the Garden State, protesters said.

Organizers with Make the Road New Jersey released the following statement about Thursday’s rally:

“In response to the over-policing and lack of support staff and programming in school districts with majority Black and Brown student populations in New Jersey and the recent high-profile murders by police of Ma’Khia Bryant (16), Adam Toledo (13), Anthony J. Thompson (17), and Daunte Wright (20), four Black and Brown youth who also lacked supportive services in their schools, New Jersey youth are organizing to demand investment in #CounselorsNotCops.”

The group said a summer petition drive has been launched to aid the effort:

“Youth will launch a summer long canvass to educate and garner the support of thousands of New Jersey residents to: 1) call on the New Jersey state legislature to pass a law to redefine New Jersey’s hundreds of millions of dollars in annual ‘categorical security aid’ to prioritize student supports instead of security guard salaries and 2) call on local school districts to focus American Rescue Plan funds on mental health staff and programming for students, not additional police.”

Make the Road New Jersey’s summer petition drive will run weekly on Tuesdays from noon to 2 p.m. at the following locations:

• Tuesday, June 1 - Elizabeth
• Tuesday, June 8 - Perth Amboy
• Tuesday, June 15 - Passaic

“The pandemic has pushed many young people’s mental health to the breaking point,” organizers said. “But in the majority of Black and Brown schools in New Jersey, there are often more police and security guards than there are counselors, social workers, and mental health programs.”

In a 2019 report, the American Civil Liberties Union found that schools with police reported 3.5 times as many arrests as schools without police, with Black students disproportionately detained.

“The higher likelihood of arrest — coupled with a lack of emotional and mental health resources in low income schools — fuels what is known as the ‘school-to-prison’ pipeline,” organizers stated. “Students of color are more likely to get arrested, suspended or expelled, so they fall behind in school and are more vulnerable to problems later in life.”

Across the nation, Black and Brown students are more likely to be removed from classrooms for what teachers deem poor conduct. But New Jersey has among the widest racial gaps in the United States, suspending these students at far greater rates than white peers, federal data shows.

The statistics on school discipline in New Jersey are striking. Black students were 5.4 times more likely to face out-of-school suspension compared with white students, while Hispanic students were 2.4 times more likely, according to a ProPublica analysis of 2015-16 federal data.

New Jersey’s disparities outpace national disparities: nationally, Black students were 3.9 times more likely to be suspended, and Hispanic students were 1.3 times more likely, the 2015-16 data showed.

According to Make the Road NJ:

“There is no evidence that shows that policing in schools makes schools safer. However, there is evidence that alternative measures for conflict resolution including threat prevention, abuse prevention, counseling, after school enrichment programs, nutrition support, and college access programming increase student security and decrease school threat level by building better outcomes for students themselves.”

Organizers concluded:

“The COVID pandemic disproportionately affected low-income students and students of color here in New Jersey. This trauma is compounded by the public murder and widespread viewing of George Floyd at the hands of police officers and countless other Black and Brown people before and since. When students return to school, they need schools to be prepared to help students heal from these traumas. To mark the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death, New Jersey Black and Brown youth are demanding substantial change and launching a summer petition drive calling for bold and transformative investment in Black and Brown schools to meet both their academic and social and emotional needs. That means #CounselorsNotCops.”

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

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