STATEWIDE — A colorful map of New Jersey that went viral on Facebook on Tuesday has offended some while amusing others. It labels some areas of the state with racial stereotypes, but designates the Hudson County area as “HIPSTERS.” South of Hudson, the label is “POOR MINORITIES.” Central Jersey gets labels like “MCMANSIONS” and “LAWYERS DRIVING HYBRIDS.”
Camden gets “WORSE THAN DETROIT.” And what about South Jersey? It gets the label “Pretty much Alabama.”
West of Hudson County, you get “Friendly white families” and “executives living in mansions driving Mercedes-Benzes.”
An article on a Westfield news website credits the design to a 22-year-old Rutgers graduate who says he works for the state Department of Environmental Protection and also “works with the Geographic Information Systems, making maps of preserves and researching resource conservation.”
He says that he’s talked to people all over the state, so he has the experience to know what’s what.
Wednesday’s news story about the map elicited several comments, including someone saying, “Hoboken area should be called ‘good luck finding parking.’ ”
Expect this story to get bigger as Detroit and Alabama complain about the comparison.
We’ll leave out the racial labels, but you can Google the map and find them for yourself. Do you find it offensive? Comment below.