Advocate would like to see "Moral" leadership from Capitol
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ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – This week on Empire State Weekly, lawmakers at the capitol have completed their brief session that started on June 20. The Assembly passed several initiatives and gavelled out to mark the end of the legislative session.
Several passed items include the Clean Slate Act, which allows certain criminal records to be sealed, and the Wrongful Convictions Act, which simplifies the process for convicts to challenge their cases.
"What really we'd like to see is more moral leadership from the governor and certainly also from the mayor of New York to be clear that folks are welcome here, and they should be welcome here as a moral matter but as a legal matter our state constitution says we're gonna meet the needs of these folks and make sure they have the networks and the resources they need." Said Rowland.
Lee Rowland, the policy director for New York Civil Liberties Union, explained that while some items passed this session support new migrants from the southern border, she'd like to see more support next session.
Also this week, John Kane a native activist and member of the State Education Department's Indigenous Mascot Advisory Council, weighed in on the ongoing effort by schools to remove team names and imagery related to Native Americans. He explained that while some may believe the use of Native American mascots or imagery is harmless, it actually has a negative impact on Native communities.
"There's always the argument that these mascots were never intended to be derogatory. And it's fine to say that. But what ends up happening is that you have almost an identity theft where you have nonnative people claiming to be Indians or Warriors or Raiders or whatever else, and they carry that identity with them well into their alumni years, so you essentially have nonnative people making a mockery by using false stereotypes of Native People, miseducating their own students." Said Kane.
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