"We have to make sure that Jon Corzine is a good governor," Jackson said. "We will not leave him dangling at the interests of a whole lot of other folks."

In his remarks, Corzine cited the CEOs of American Express, Time Warner and Merrill Lynch as examples of minorities who rose to the top once they were given the opportunity to succeed. He vowed to work with faith-based organizations to offer more after-school activities for inner-city children.

"If we want to keep our kids off the streets, we're going to have to create opportunities," Corzine said. "Those programs need to be in the context of moral structure."

Corzine said afterwards he would be willing to use state funds to pay for initiatives with faith-based groups.