UNLOCKINGTHE MYTHS

This statue ofChristopherColumbus stands atColumbus Circle inManhattan. Calls toremove or savesimilar statues ofthe explorercontinue across thecountry. The truthbehind the legendremains murky.MICHAEL KARAS/

NORTHJERSEY.COM

Garden State of MindChristopher Maag

USA TODAY NETWORKTearing down a statue of Christopher Columbus is an act

of passion. To topple an 8-foot Columbus statue and toss

it into a lake, protesters in Richmond, Virginia, dragged it

200 yards, down a highway, in the middle of the night. hTwo hundred yards. h Of course, defending monuments is tricky

work, too. h Columbus stands accused of instigating genocide.

Robert E. Lee committed treason to preserve chattel slavery.

Yet as rallies for racial justice con-tinue across the country, PresidentDonald Trump has made preservingthese and other monuments a focusof his reelection campaign, a racialwedge designed to divide the coun-try. To keep the bizarre practice ofnaming some of America’s most im-portant military bases for Confeder-ates — who spent four years attack-

ing the American military in defenseof slavery — Trump is threatening toveto pay raises for American troops.

Meanwhile, statues of Christo-pher Columbus are coming down allacross the country. In Boston andConnecticut, Columbus statues werebeheaded. A statue in Baltimore was

Christopher Columbus has acomplicated, and dubious, history

See MAAG, Page 4A

Region-by-regionpreview for the LastDance World SeriesSPORTS, 1S

Weather today

High 89° ❚ Low 72°Partly sunny.

Seeking peace after tragedy

The man who was driving Tracy Morganthe night the comedian almost diedshares his story. 1LF

Weather tomorrow

High 85° ❚ Low 68°T-storm. Forecast, 2A

Dumont principal fired

He is accused of threats, “inappropriateexpressions of love.” 1L

The crusade to fi�x NJ Transit — which has suff�eredfrom equipment, performance, fi�nancial and person-nel failures over the past decade — is now focused onits leadership structure, with a radical proposal to re-tool how the agency has been run since its inceptionmore than 40 years ago.

The plan, spelled out in a bill that state Sen. Loret-ta Weinberg, D-Bergen, introduced last month, pro-poses a wide-ranging overhaul of how the agencyfunctions to date, and builds upon the work of 2018legislation passed to spark changes at NJ Transit,

Transit reformstarts at top,lawmaker saysColleen Wilson NorthJersey.com

USA TODAY NETWORK – NEW JERSEY

See NJ TRANSIT, Page 6A

“No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace! No jus-tice, no peace!”

The chant rang out along Genesee Avenue and La-fayette Place in Englewood as hundreds rallied for so-cial change.

Just days after George Floyd was killed, I foundmyself covering Englewood’s protest of systemic ra-cial inequality. I felt a myriad of emotions: anger, sad-ness, and a sense of pride. Hours, days, and nightsafter I fi�nished reporting the words, the repetitivebeat still echoed in my head.

Growing up,racism wasmy realityShaylah Brown NorthJersey.com

USA TODAY NETWORK – NEW JERSEY

See MY STORY, Page 8A

Shaylah Brown, a reporter with The Record, saysshe experienced racism, overtly and other ways,while growing up in New Jersey and attendingpredominately white schools.AMY NEWMAN/NORTHJERSEY.COM

BLACK LIVES MATTER: MY STORY

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