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Local leaders dismissed
for racist comments
BY ROSE ADAMS
Heads are rolling after an
Assembly staffer and a Coney
Island community board member
were caught circulating
racist Facebook posts that accused
Chinese business owners
of spreading the coronavirus.
Assemblywoman Mathylde
Frontus (D-Coney Island) fi red
receptionist Marilyn Franks,
who forwarded a Facebook post
advising locals to avoid Chinese
restaurants for fear of contracting
the potentially deadly illness,
the Daily News reported.
“We urge citizens to stay
away from Chinese supermarkets,
shops, fast food outlets,
Restaurant, and Business, sic”
read the message forwarded by
Franks. “Most of the owners
went back to China to celebrate
the Chinese New Year Celebrations.
They are returning
and some are bringing along
the Coronavirus. Rather be safe
than sorry.”
Franks’ endorsement of the
anti-Chinese message sparked
sharp rebukes from elected
offi cials and Chinese-American
community leaders, who
blasted the misinformation as
“racist and xenophobic.”
“Publicly espousing and promoting
such misleading view
and divisive messages only create
sic unnecessary hates and
crimes to the community we
formed to serve,” said Stephanie
Wong, the president of the
United Chinese Association
of Brooklyn. “Any openly racist
and xenophobic comments
have no place in the public discourse.”
Ronald X Stewart was dismissed
from his community board after
offensive social media posts.
Frontus apologized for her
staffer’s conduct on March
2, saying that Franks would
“complete additional sensitivity
training,” but later announced
on March 4 that she
fi red Franks and had directed
her whole staff to complete sensitivity
training.
“As a daughter of Haitian immigrants,
I was in grade school
when the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration barred Haitian
Americans from donating
blood, blaming my community
for HIV/AIDS,” Frontus said in
a March 4 statement. “Viruses
do not distinguish among races
and cultures, and I will fi ght
just as hard against misinformation
and racism targeting
Chinese Americans.”
The anti-Chinese vitriol
TAKING A STAND
Protestors demand justice for
Canarsie man arrested in viral video
BY JESSICA PARKS
Protestors marched
through Canarsie on March
7 to demand accountability
after a viral video captured
police offi cers tackling
20-year-old Fitzroy Gayle to
the ground during an arrest
for alleged marijuana possession.
“We have to take a stand
when our people are being assaulted
by NYPD,” said Peter
Jones, chaplain for the 67th
Precinct. “We demand justice.”
A video posted to Twitter
on March 5 shows a plainclothes
offi cer holding Gayle
against a wall before a swarm
of police respond to the scene
and fi reclay tackle him to the
ground while he screams for
help.
“The world saw that live
on videotape,” said Rev. Kevin
Protestors marched through Canarsie on March 7.
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