In 2020, James E. Harris went on a tirade, claiming the Jewish community in Lakewood “controls” the town at the expense of black and Latino students and described Hasidic Jews as “folks in long black suits and curly locks” who are buying properties and victimizing people of color in Lakewood and Jersey City.
His anti-Semitic jeremiad caused Gov. Phil Murphy to seek his resignation from the Education Opportunity Fund, and drew the ire of a freshman congresswoman from his hometown, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo. The Montclair NAACP forced Harris, the group’s former president, out of a leadership role and suspended him for six months.
But now, more than five years later, the 78-year-old Harris is looking for revenge. His target is Richard T. Smith, the state NAACP president, but it’s not clear if Harris is a credible voice in the attack.
The Philadelphia Inquirer has been speaking to Harris, the New Jersey Globe has learned. That raised a question from a former Inquirer reporter, who asked not to be identified: “Is it ethical to use a bigot’s voice to move a story forward?
“We do not comment on stories that are being reported,” said Gabriel Escobar, the newspaper’s editor.
Harris did not respond to an email request for comment.
Smith had responded quickly to evidence that another NAACP leader, Jeffrey Dye, had made anti-Semitic and anti-Latino statements on his Facebook page, causing Murphy to fire Dye from his job at the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Smith removed Dye as president of the Passaic NAACP.
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