NYC Liberal
NYC Liberal's JournalRoosevelt Statue to Be Removed From Museum of Natural History
Source: NY Times
The bronze statue of Theodore Roosevelt, on horseback and flanked by a Native American man and an African man, which has presided over the entrance to the American Museum of Natural History in New York since 1940, is coming down.
The decision, proposed by the museum and agreed to by New York City, which owns the building and property, came after years of objections from activists and at a time when the killing of George Floyd has initiated an urgent nationwide conversation about racism.
For many, the equestrian statue at the museum’s Central Park West entrance has come to symbolize a painful legacy of colonial expansion and racial discrimination.
“Over the last few weeks, our museum community has been profoundly moved by the ever-widening movement for racial justice that has emerged after the killing of George Floyd,” the museum’s president, Ellen V. Futter, said in an interview. “We have watched as the attention of the world and the country has increasingly turned to statues as powerful and hurtful symbols of systemic racism.”
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/arts/design/roosevelt-statue-to-be-removed-from-museum-of-natural-history.html#click=https://t.co/aPafBjXCOv
N.Y. Gov. Cuomo Signs Sweeping Police Reforms Into Law, Says They're 'Long Overdue'
Source: CBS
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday signed sweeping police reform bills into law, notably banning chokeholds and repealing a hotly contested state law known as “50A,” which kept officers’ disciplinary records confidential.
“Police reform is long overdue,” said Cuomo. “[George] Floyd’s murder is just the most recent murder. This is not just about Mr. Floyd’s murder. It’s about being here before, many, many times before.”
State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Rev. Al Sharpton joined Cuomo at the bill signing.
Cuomo also issued an executive order requiring local governments and police departments to develop a plan to modernize police strategies and programs.
Read more: https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/06/12/n-y-gov-cuomo-signs-sweeping-police-reforms-into-law-says-theyre-long-overdue/
Cuomo Lays Out 'Say Their Name' Reform Agenda
The list of policy priorities builds on earlier proposals he called for in the immediate aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and prior executive actions he has taken including appointing the Attorney General as a special prosecutor in matters relating to the deaths of unarmed civilians caused by law enforcement.
The 'Say Their Name' Reform agenda includes:
- Allow for transparency of prior disciplinary records of law enforcement officers by reforming 50-a of the civil rights law;
- Banning chokeholds by law enforcement officers;
- Prohibiting false race-based 911 reports and making them a crime; and
- Designating the Attorney General as an independent prosecutor for matters relating to the deaths of unarmed civilians caused by law enforcement.
"Mr. Floyd's murder was the breaking point of a long list of deaths that were unnecessary and abusive, and people are saying enough is enough, we must change and we must stop the abuse," Governor Cuomo said. "Stopping police abuse vindicates the overwhelming majority - 99.9 percent - of police who are there to do the right thing. It restores the confidence, the respect, and the trust that you need to make this relationship work. You have to heal the police-community relationship for the sake of the police and for the sake of the community. As the progressive capital of the nation New York should be at the forefront of this movement, and I want to work with the Legislature to pass these policy priorities next week to reform our systems and put a stop to this abuse once and for all."
https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-lays-out-say-their-name-reform-agenda-priorities-following-killing-george-floyd
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