In its dash in the fast lane to embrace diversity, the city of Newark, New Jersey, drove into a pothole.
On Jan. 12, Newark officials signed a “sister city” agreement with the United States of Kailasa that was going to support trade and other activities that would allow Newark to cite a connection with a Hindu nation.
“I pray that our relationship helps us to understand cultural, social and political development and improves the lives of everybody in both places that helps us to understand where we are and who we are and our connectivity to one another and helps us to become better people in this process, better people individually and as cities and nations,” Mayor Ras Baraka said then, according to the website Tap Into Newark.
But alas for such good intentions, Kailasa does not exist except in the alternate reality of the internet.
On Jan. 18, Newark quietly voided the sister city agreement, but it was not until early this month that word of the blunder reached the media.
Ding dong circus.