[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - We're now joined, once again, by State Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter, who is chair of the Community Development and Women Affairs Committee in the assembly.

Good to see you Assemblywoman.

- Good to see you, Steve.

- All right, gotta go there.

We'll talk about a whole range of legislative issues in a minute.

We're doing this after the 2024 election.

Passaic county, where you hail from, went for Donald Trump.

A significant number of Hispanic and African-Americans voted for Donald Trump.

Help us understand.

- I'm trying to wrap my mind around it as well, Steve.

It hurts to think- - Why?

- All of the hard work.

I know and understand now as we're having postmortem conversations, partly the economy, part a distrust of the work that has been done, not feeling connected to the Democratic Party.

It was a smart voter, 'cause we won our county line for the Democratic Party in Passaic County.

We won the sheriff's office, we won the county commissioners, but we lost the Presidential to Donald Trump.

- What do you think this means, a Trump presidency with Republican Congress?

What do you think it means from a policy perspective for most of the people in Passaic County in your legislative district?

- So, I think it means that we're gonna have to double down on the work.

We're gonna have to double down first on communicating and listening, right?

Hearing what voters are feeling disenfranchised with, hearing why folks did not vote at all.

That's the other concern that we have.

We also have to deal with the elephant in the room, which is the misogyny that comes with it.

The sexism, because we had a woman, Latina running for congress in Passaic County, Senator Nelly Pou.

- Nelly Pou, now Congresswoman Nelly Pou.

- Yes.

- Who barely won in a largely democratic district, formerly represented by long time, the late Congressman Bill Pascrell.

- With 48- - Go ahead, I'm sorry.

- 48% Latino community.

- But why do you say Assemblywoman, respectfully, that there's misogyny involved?

- Because she was a woman candidate, Latina, who did not receive the full support of the Latin community.

- What if someone says, yes, she looks like me.

She's Hispanic.

But policy wise, I'm more aligned with the Republicans now.

Why can't it be a policy difference?

- We didn't hear policy, Steve.

I would love to think it was a high level conversation on policy, on affordability in the state of New Jersey - What about on immigration?

- Immigration I think was a real issue.

But what does that mean when we are a country built on immigrants?

Let's not forget that.

So in having a pathway to citizenship is something that Donald Trump has blocked in its first term as presidency.

So a clear understanding of what that means for community as a whole, especially our Passaic County district that's made up of over 90 different dialects when you look at the school district, it's concerning and alarming that immigration was on the ballot for this president who has hired the border czar, the former ICE director, to head up his policy on immigration.

- What do you think, sorry for interrupting Assemblywoman.

What do you think, quote/unquote, "mass deportation" means?

- To me, it's scary.

It means families being separated and we saw this playbook before.

It means that we are gonna have to, as a community, be the safety net for those families and come up with ways we were sanctuary state.

What does that mean?

Are folks supportive of that?

Creating a pathway for citizenship for work as well as for a means to become a citizen.

Those are the details, the nuances that we have to work through.

Not sure how the community feels, but we're gonna have to double down on that in a very short window of time to see what that means to protect humanity.

- You know, I know when we booked you Assemblywoman, it was to talk about the New Jersey disparity study.

- Yes.

- Okay, so let's try this.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Many who argue, and by the way, the New Jersey diversity study is important because it was released earlier this year, talked about the number of state contracts going to minority owned firms, women owned firms, ridiculously low.

That being said, do you think, again, politics, elections have consequences?

Do you think the DEI agenda has been crushed because of this election?

And if not, what needs to be done, particularly given the results of that disparity study?

- So, couple things.

The disparity study is economics at best.

New Jersey has some of the worst disparities for minorities and women in the country.

- That's right.

- So my hope is that it's economics, if we talk about that being on the ballot nationally, which it was as well, we still have to address it.

The work doesn't change for us because we have the data.

So it's a matter of being focused, we're talking about eligible businesses being able to do state contracting, so that makes the state better as a whole.

So I'm hopeful for that work that we will continue to do as a democratic legislature, democratic governor, policy, hands down.

What does it mean for DEI?

- Yeah.

- It's on the chopping block, however- - Okay.

What does it mean on the chopping block?

- It means that it will no longer be viewed based on the remarks from the president-elect, Donald Trump, that there's no value.

There's no value in diversity, equity, inclusion.

There's no fair start.

There's no opportunity to find the strings for the bootstraps that they want you to pull yourself up by.

We're talking about educational systems being on the chopping block with the abolishment of the Department of Education on a national level.

We're talking about making sure that the diversity brings a voice to the table to support actions instead of just being one that's an exclusive environment for the rare air of trillionaires and billionaires.

So for us, as the African American Community Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, we'll continue to fight.

No matter what form is in, our diversity is what makes us stronger.

So as we work through this term of a presidency, we're gonna fight and I'm committed to doubling down in that space.

- Shavonda, I've known you a lot of years.

I've always known you to be an optimist.

- Yes.

- The church matters to you.

- Yes.

- Your faith matters to you.

One minute left.

Are you optimistic?

And if so, why?

- So I am optimistic because my faith teaches me to do so.

There will be a swing, there will be a governor's race and an assembly race in the state of New Jersey that will also show the strength of the Democratic Party in the state of New Jersey, and give us an opportunity to hear from voters on what the work is that they want done in their state.

There's also midterm elections, for the federal government that usually is a marker, if you will, for the President's approval rating.

Joe Biden's, 60 billion jobs, 60 million jobs, excuse me, a strong economy is what he's turning over to President elect Donald Trump.

So there's work to be done.

I haven't lost all hope, but yet we're wounded a little bit today.

- State Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter is not only the chair of the Community Development and Women's Affairs Committee, she's also the chair of the Legislative Black Caucus.

As always, Assemblywoman, an honor to have you with us.

Thank you very much.

- Thank you, Steve.

- You got it.

I'm Steve Adubato, that's the assemblywoman.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] State of Affairs with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

Funding has been provided by EJI, Excellence in Medicine Awards.

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And by The Adler Aphasia Center.

Promotional support provided by The New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

And by New Jersey Monthly.

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