Stu News and Photos

So I'm from New Jersey. For those who didn't know.

I'm living in California now, but half my heart rests in NJ.

As such, for this essay, I shall be writing in the third person plural as a native of the Garden State:

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We abolished the death penalty at the end of last year, which was pretty cool.

But then this year, we're going to formally apologize for Slavery.

So those who know me well know that I'm a conspiracy nut. So my first thought, upon hearing that we'd be giving the big sorry for the boats and nets and captivity and such ('bout time!), was that maybe we were trying to court African-Americans.

But NJ is solidly Democratic, at least since the late 80s, if not earlier. So what do we gain by these two acts? Nothing.

Except this: They're both the right thing to do. They are both long overdue, and they are both abominations. And maybe, if I may lay my cynical shield down for a moment and speak from the heart, maybe New Jersey just grew up a little. Maybe the populace reached inside itself and said, "Y'know, it's time to become adults, so let's take some adult steps."

So, I've decided to go with that assumption, that New Jersey is just a darned cool place and folks from Jersey should hold our heads a little higher.

photo credit, Nicholas T