OPINION
In the last few years, Newark has been lauded for finding solutions to problems that plagued American cities. Through our violence prevention initiatives, we had less homicides in 2022 than we did in 1961 and reduced the number of non-fatal shootings by 36 percent in the last year alone.
Our drinking water is among the safest in the nation after our unprecedented lead-line replacement program. We opened transitional housing centers for our homeless, instituted home ownership programs, and major housing rehabilitation and development in our long-neglected wards to stabilize neighborhoods and make them safer.
I know and, more importantly Newark residents know, we are moving in the right direction, and at a speed that many say makes me a viable candidate to become the first African American governor in New Jersey and only the fourth elected Black governor in United States history. Perhaps that unnerves some people in certain political establishments.
That’s why the timing of the Fairleigh Dickinson University poll that claims “Newark residents feel less safe, have less positive views of police” is curious.
First, I take exception to the use of the language that “Newark residents feel …” which implies a consensus when only 1,104 Newark residents were polled. That represents a mere one-third of one percent of Newark’s 311,000. That hardly warrants an emphatic statement that implies all Newark residents feel a certain way.
Polling professionals insist such small percentages of people, and even fewer, can be representative of an entire nation, a city, a race, religion, or political party. But I think we should exercise our intellect, intuition and draw on our own world views to approach some polls with healthy skepticism.
From this small sample, the FDU Poll Executive Director Dan Cassino concludes, “The progress that has been made in Newark is uneven. For some people, in some wards, things have gotten better, but they’re the exception rather than the rule.”
According to the poll’s own findings, that’s not true. In every ward, the FDU poll finds the number of people who believe the city has gotten better or see no change outnumber those who say it’s gotten worse by wide margins.
This misrepresentation of fact is compounded by Cassino in an interview with a Trenton political website, in which the author writes, “These numbers could spell trouble for Baraka if he moves forward on a gubernatorial run.”
Cassino responds to this observation by saying, “Mayor Baraka has been pushing a narrative of rebirth in Newark, that things have gotten a lot better in his tenure. By a lot of objective measures, that’s true: but he hasn’t sold most people in Newark on it.”
Most people? That’s an odd statement coming from someone who claims to look at data objectively.
Here in Newark, we have broad shoulders and thick skin. We can take criticism, whether warranted or unwarranted. We have survived damaging false narratives, and let our work speak for itself. We know Newark presents a big target for those who would like to see us fail and deny our progress. We usually roll with punches, but there are times we are inclined to punch back.
Because this poll was widely reported in the media, this is one of those times.
I know it is not the job of the media to advocate for me or the City but it has a responsibility to take these perceptions and put things in perspective. It has a responsibility to apply known facts to a story for balance and fairness.
The facts of our crime reduction are not only readily available to the media but were reported by these outlets before.
Also widely reported was the fact our police did not fire a shot or use a baton in all of 2020, when our police were challenged with Covid enforcement and peacefully managed the massive crowds in our George Floyd protests without an arrest.
So, it was in their grasp to put a headline or lead to this story that could have put the poll in better perspective. I wouldn’t have argued with a headline that said, “Despite decline in crime, some Newark residents feel less safe.”
That would have been truthful and covered all the bases with fairness and objectivity.
Ras Baraka is the mayor of Newark.