February is Black History Month. It’s a month to celebrate how far we’ve come as a nation, from slavery to Jim Crow to an era in which civil rights are guaranteed for all. It's also a time to reflect on how our own communities have shaped the struggle for equality.

New Jersey played a key role in ending discrimination. In 1944, we became the first state in the nation to rule that segregation in schools was illegal; ten years later that argument became the cornerstone of Brown v. Board of Education.

But the work is far from over, friend. We still have challenges of equity, police accountability, economic opportunity, and representation before us. We can only tackle these issues together, and we can only succeed as a nation when everyone is treated equally.

These past twelve months have been a reckoning. We’ve witnessed the searing pain of Black communities all over the nation during the George Floyd protests, and we’ve borne witness to the striking inequalities present in the medical field as the COVID-19 pandemic has hit communities of color especially hard.

Even though equality was enshrined into law more than fifty years ago, we have so much work to do to ensure that Black Americans are truly equal — and it starts with our leaders. I’m proud to play a role in this journey by supporting key pieces of legislation in the House of Representatives.

This is just the beginning. Please join me in commemorating Black History Month — together, we look ahead to a future where inequality is eradicated. Remember, it’s up to us.

Yours,

Josh Gottheimer