Recent allegations from a New Jersey State Trooper about the existence of a rogue, racist subculture known as the Lords of Discipline, that exists within a veil of secrecy inside one of the nation's most controversial law enforcement bodies, are not shocking for many African-Americans in New Jersey.
33 year-old former NJ State Trooper Justin Hopson's charges of systematic physical abuse and harassment might just begin to shed some light onto years of allegations of racist behavior of officers from a state that many truck drivers who regularly traverse the heavily traveled New Jersey Turnpike quietly call "The Nazi State".
Ironically the hate-loving white supremacists named their group after the title of a 1983 Pat Conroy novel, completely missing the point of the writer's vivid portrayals of the south's breathtaking natural landscape contrasted against the dark portrayals of insidious demented hate ingrained in some of the characters from his best-selling novels.
I can clearly recall commuting up from Exit 8-A to the Meadowlands five days a week from 1993 - 1995. It was nearly always a given that if Troopers had a car pulled over on the shoulder of the New Jersey Turnpike the occupants were either black or Hispanic. After a growing outcry from members of the minority community, politicians, activists and a wide range of concerned citizens of all backgrounds, media attention began to bring more scrutiny to a police force whose own records show that at one time over 88% of the traffic stops on the New Jersey Turnpike were African-American when blacks comprised about 11% of the state's population.
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