Camden, NJ: Race, Class, and Urban Decay in Days of Destruction

Introduction: Camden as a Symbol of American Inequality

Camden, New Jersey is a city that symbolizes racial segregation and embodies the worst of American capitalism. In Camden, "poverty is a business" (Hedges and Sacco 88). George Norcross — known as "King George" — is the de facto power broker of Camden. Yet Norcross does not live in Camden, holds no official elected position, and is white, unlike the vast majority of Camden residents. Camden is not the typical white flight story, either. The history of Camden reveals potent trends in American urban geography, particularly the way that intersections between race, class, gender, and power entrench corruption in American society. One research question that can be illuminated through a deeper analysis of Chapter 2 of Hedges and Sacco's Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt is how the people can reclaim their cities from the wanton destruction, alienation, and exploitation symbolized by the likes of King George.

Political Corruption and the Diversion of Recovery Funds

King George and his cronies in Trenton — and even in Washington — have been grafting money designated for Camden's urban development and economic recovery. By taking what Hedges and Sacco claim is more than 95% of federal and state recovery packages, Norcross funds his pet projects, usually large-scale construction and real estate development (93). "Less than five percent of the $175 million recovery package was spent addressing the most pressing concerns of the city — crime, schools, job training, and municipal service" (93). As a result, Camden resembles a war zone, its citizens turning against each other and rendered powerless to fight for their constitutional rights because every element of the city's legislative and justice systems falls within the Norcross/Christie sphere of influence. The result is a systematically and deliberately segregated urban geography.

Racial Segregation and Urban Geography in South Jersey

Within the segregated urban space of South Jersey, Camden is the zone of the poor — primarily African American, but also home to those cast off from other parts of the state, including drug addicts and prostitutes whose circumstances place them beyond even the concern of law enforcement. Cherry Hill, by contrast, is where Norcross runs his slum empire: a wealthy and predominantly white zone. Because the state of New Jersey has enabled a corrupt bureaucracy to replace democratically elected officials — effectively stripping the Mayor of Camden of any meaningful political power — there is little that community organizers and local leaders can do other than maintain faith. Faith is, in fact, what holds together many of Camden's residents. As Hedges and Sacco describe, African Americans in Camden have created solidarity through either Christianity or Islam, using religion as a means of generating collective resources to rally against corruption and of preserving psychological and social health within their devastating surroundings.

Conclusion: Reclaiming Camden

How can Camden reclaim itself from the likes of Norcross? Only through a systematic reappraisal of the legality of the state-controlled bureaucracy that prevents democratically elected officials from making necessary improvements to the city using the taxpayer money set aside for precisely that purpose. As scholars of American urban politics have long noted, lasting change in deeply corrupted municipal environments requires structural legal intervention, not merely community goodwill. Only then can Camden hope to reclaim its own urban landscape.