New York A 5610: Allocates the Amistad commission in the department of education, and repeals certain provisions of the arts and cultural affairs law relating to the Amistad commission

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A05610 Summary:

BILL NOA05610 

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SAME ASSAME AS S00030

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SPONSORZinerman

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COSPNSRTaylor, Seawright, Hevesi, Simon, Gonzalez-Rojas, Glick, Otis, Cook, Davila, Jackson, Raga, Walker,
 Gibbs, Anderson, Chandler-Waterman, Shimsky, Ramos, Hyndman

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

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Rpld Art 57-B, Arts & Cul L; add Art 25 §§1301 - 1306, amd §801, Ed L

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Allocates the Amistad commission to work alongside the department of education and on behalf of students in the state; repeals certain provisions relating to the Amistad commission; requires schools in the state to provide curriculum relating to Black history, slavery, and race.

Go to top A05610 Actions:

BILL NOA05610 

&nbsp

02/18/2025referred to education

01/07/2026referred to education

Go to topA05610 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topA05610 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topA05610 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 5610

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN ASSEMBLY

 February 18, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by M. of A. ZINERMAN, TAYLOR, SEAWRIGHT, HEVESI, SIMON,
 GONZALEZ-ROJAS, GLICK, OTIS, COOK, DAVILA, JACKSON, RAGA, WALKER,
 GIBBS, ANDERSON, CHANDLER-WATERMAN -- read once and referred to the
 Committee on Education

 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to allocating the Amistad
 commission to work alongside the department of education and on behalf
 of students in New York state; and to repeal certain provisions of the
 arts and cultural affairs law relating to the Amistad commission

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Article 57-B of the arts and cultural affairs law is
 2 REPEALED.
 3 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new article 25 to read
 4 as follows:
 5 ARTICLE 25
 6 THE AMISTAD COMMISSION
 7 Section 1301. Legislative findings.
 8 1302. Definitions
 9 1303. Commission established.
 10 1304. Commission duties and responsibilities.
 11 1305. Curriculum.
 12 1306. Authorization.
 13 § 1301. Legislative findings. The legislature finds and declares that:
 14 1. During the period beginning late in the fifteenth century through
 15 the nineteenth century, millions of persons of African origin were
 16 enslaved and brought to the Western Hemisphere, including the United
 17 States of America; of the 12.5 million enslaved Africans brought, 10.7
 18 million survived the middle passage or approximately 20% perished during
 19 their journey to the Western hemisphere. The enslavement of Africans and
 20 their descendants was part of a concerted effort of physical and psycho-
 21 logical terror that deprived groups of people of African descent the

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD00149-01-5

 A. 5610 2

 1 opportunity to preserve many of their economic, social, religious, poli-
 2 tical and other customs; the vestiges of slavery in this country contin-
 3 ued with the legalization of second class citizenship status for Afri-
 4 can-Americans through from the end of Reconstruction in 1876 until the
 5 Civil Rights Era that spanned the 1950s through 1968, including Jim Crow
 6 laws, segregation and other similar practices; the legacy of slavery has
 7 pervaded the fabric of our society; and in spite of these events there
 8 are endless examples of the influence of the history of Africans on the
 9 cultural, economic, political and social foundation of the United
 10 States, the Americas and the economies, politics and societies of Europe
 11 and beyond. The enduring legacy of chattel slavery in the United States
 12 and the Americas, including the social construct created and cemented by
 13 the biological myth of race and the resulting inequities and injustices
 14 stemming from racism. That was challenged by the perseverance, activism
 15 and aforementioned contributions of the enslaved Africans, their
 16 descendants and stakeholders, throughout history.
 17 2. We should know of and remember the human carnage and dehumanizing
 18 atrocities committed during the period of the African slave trade and
 19 slavery in America and of the vestiges of slavery in this country; and
 20 it is in fact