By Wilfredo “Wil” Rojas, M.Ed. | AC JosepH Media Guest Blogger

On Tuesday, Oct. 2, when I retrieved my daily copy of the newspaper, I found right there on the front page an article entitled “Poll has Van Drew trailing Kennedy in 2nd Dist.”

So, the good news is that a Monmouth University Poll is being released a short time before the Nov. 3rd General Election. The bad news is that it may result in getting supporters of Amy Kennedy and the Biden/Harris Democratic Slate overconfident. We still have lots of work to do, folks, to send Amy to Congress and Biden/Harris to the White House.

Although the poll is welcomed news, Amy Kennedy still faces a tight race. Kennedy and her Republican opponent, Jeff Van Drew, remain in a race too close to call. Kennedy assembled a diverse coalition of voters, and strongly courted the African American and Latino vote.

Let’s not forget Jeff Van Drew, elected as a Democrat in 2016, gained momentum by pledging his undying support for a president that has largely ignored the residents of the district. Van Drew is not cut out for the district that includes a sizable minority population with many quality-of-life issues.

President Trump has been stomping for Trump while visiting South Jersey on a number of occasions. He enjoys the support of White-supremacist-leaning voters and has a ton of cash to put into Van Drew’s campaign coffers.

The decision to vote by African Americans and Latinos in the upcoming Tuesday, November 3rd election, and the challenges facing these communities that are created by the administration of President Donald Trump and his ally, Jeff Van Drew, should be motivated by the deepest and strongest desire to build a better life for themselves and their families.

With surging unemployment amongst African Americans and Latinos, and disproportionate rates of coronavirus infections and deaths, and small businesses suffering from the effects of this crippling disease, voting for candidates dedicated to addressing the virus, through federal legislation and appropriations based on medical science is critical. 

Your decision, as a Black or Latino voter — which I respect — is highly personal. But you should know that the most consistently radical work against the minority population in South Jersey coming out of Washington, D.C., pursues to overturn legislation that these communities won through the work of compassionate conscious federal elected officials supportive of the rights for equality, economic opportunities, education, housing, employment, health care, social mobility that encompasses the desires of all Americans looking to earn a decent living, enjoy what communities have to offer, and raise heathy sustainable families.

Jeff Van Drew, in his undying support for our current president, has and will bunker down in rabid support of racial and cultural ideologies that shapes his vision and will continue to haunt the African and Latino populations that have longevity in their migration to the 2nd Congressional District.

I hope I’ve given you African American and Latino voters a reasonable account of the reasons why it is so important to redouble the number of African American and Latino voters that helped propel Amy Kennedy’s victory in the July 7th Primary election win over her four opponents.

Bio: Wilfredo “Wil” Rojas is an award-winning columnist, veteran civil rights activist and former officer with the Gloucester County NAACP. He is the cofounder and retired director of Philadelphia Prison System’s Office of Community Justice and Outreach.


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