Your Friday Briefing table with 2 rows and 1 columns row 1 column 1 link View in browser link nytimes dot com link Continue reading the main story row 2 visited link 8396f 51a c 3fd 45b 1 8809 3bc 3ba… June 5, 2020 out of table link graphic Author Headshot By link David Leonhardt Good morning. Mourners remembered George Floyd. Virus data shows an encouraging trend. Let’s start with a look at police departments that have made changes. heading level 1 Where police reform has worked Unlabeled graphic To get missing image descriptions, open the context menu. Police recruits at the San Francisco Police Academy in San Francisco dot Justin Sullivan slash Getty Images It can often feel like nothing changes with police killings. Gruesome, high profile cases keep coming Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, link now Manuel Ellis and the annual number of killings nationwide remains at about 1,100. In several big cities, however, things have changed. Police departments have adopted new policies, and, while problems remain, the number of shootings and deaths have fallen significantly. It’s link happened in Los Angeles , where fatal police shootings have declined in each of the last four years, down to 12 last year. It’s link happened in San Francisco dot And it’s happened in Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia and Phoenix, Samuel Sinyangwe, a data scientist and activist, link writes for link Five Thirty Eight dot Many of these reforms were initiated in response to protests and public outcry over high profile deaths, he adds. The changes often revolve around training officers to de escalate situations and reduce the amount of force they use. Tougher measures to get rid of violent officers also seem to help. Hiring more police officers sometimes helps as well, research shows. Overstressed, overtired officers working too many shifts generate more complaints of excessive force, link Vox’s Matthew Yglesias notes dot The most sweeping proposals to emerge in recent days, link like defunding the police , are unlikely to attract broad political support. Many Americans feel positively toward the police, as David Byler of The Washington Post link points out although there are link large gaps by race dot Still, most Americans also say that the police have a racism problem, and most favor reforms, such as body cameras and outside investigations of misconduct. Drew Linzer of the polling firm Civiqs notes that support for the Black Lives Matter movement link surged in recent days to almost 50 percent, the highest it has ever been in over three years of polling. All of which points to some common political ground on police reform. The problem is not that we lack a playbook for fixing the police, a former police commissioner in Philadelphia and three other experts link write for the Times Opinion section dot We have one. The problem is that we have not successfully followed the one we have. Barack Obama posted link a Twitter thread last night making similar points. Why hasn’t reform worked in Minneapolis? The police department failed to set clear criteria on the use of force and de escalation, link Jamiles Lartey and Simone Weichselbaum of The Marshall Project link report dot The department also failed to weed out bad cops and continued to use choke holds. table with 2 rows and 1 columns row 1 column 1 row 2 heading level 3 THREE MORE BIG STORIES out of table heading level 2 1. Remembering George Floyd Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times A link memorial service on Thursday for George Floyd was by turns personal and political, celebrating both the life he had lived and the movement that his death has inspired. Floyd’s brother Philonise recalled playing football and eating banana and mayonnaise sandwiches; one of his cousins, Shareeduh Tate, said, The thing I miss most about him is his hugs. In a defiant eulogy, the Rev. Al Sharpton said: George Floyd’s story has been the story of black folks. Because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed of being is you kept your knee on our neck. Later, with the crowd rising, he added, It’s time for us to stand up in George’s name and say, Get your knee off our necks. More developments from the protests: list with 2 items bullet Two Buffalo police officers were suspended after link a video showed them shoving a 75 year old link protester dot They left him on the ground while he bled from the head. Mayor Byron Brown said the man was in serious condition. bullet The Buffalo video is one of hundreds across the country that have link documented violent police link tactics , often in response to nonviolent protests. (Related: link Wesley Morris, a Times link critic at large, writes : The most urgent filmmaking anybody’s doing in this country right now is by black people with camera phones. ) out of list table with 2 rows and 1 columns row 1 column 1 row 2 out of table heading level 2 2. Some good news on the virus If you look at link one of the charts tracking the coronavirus in the U dot S. , you’ll probably notice a disturbing pattern: The number of new cases has virtually stopped falling, hovering around 20,000 for the past 10 days. But the actual trend may be more encouraging. The number of tests being conducted has been rising rapidly in recent weeks which means more virus cases are being uncovered than otherwise would have been. Another key measure is the percentage of tests that come back positive ( link as Nate Silver link of Five Thirty Eight has argued ), and it has continued to decline: By The New York Times Source: The COVID Tracking Project Taken together, the various measures suggest that the virus’s spread continues to slow but only modestly and not as rapidly as in some other countries. table with 2 rows and 1 columns row 1 column 1 row 2 out of table heading level 2 3. An economic burden for women The lockdown has already created burdens for mothers. They have taken on a disproportionate share of day care, home schooling and housework, research has shown. Now the reopening of many workplaces may cause a new set of problems. The lack of child care options with day care centers, camps and schools closed may force women out of the labor force to take care of their children. And even temporary time away from a job often brings permanent costs, in terms of missed promotions and opportunities, link as Patricia Cohen link and Tiffany Hsu of The Times explain dot The limited gains made in the past decades are at risk of being rolled back, concluded a U dot N. report on the virus’s impact on women. table with 2 rows and 1 columns row 1 column 1 row 2 out of table heading level 2 Here’s what else is happening list with 2 items bullet The Trump administration link moved to weaken two major environmental protections , including on clean air. bullet Many Times readers and employees link criticized the Opinion section’s decision to publish an Op Ed by Senator Tom Cotton calling for the military to crack down on lawbreakers. Last night, a spokeswoman for The Times said a link review had found that the piece did not meet our standards and was the result of a rushed editorial process. out of list list with 1 items bullet Lives Lived: Hecky Powell’s South Side Chicago style barbecue restaurant link was an institution in link Evanston, Ill. , feeding everyone from broke college students to the Chicago Bulls. He even once advised a young Barack Obama, during his run for the Illinois Senate. Powell died on May 22 at 71. out of list link Continue reading the main story table with 2 rows and 1 columns row 1 column 1 row 2 heading level 3 BACK STORY: TEACHING YOUR KIDS ABOUT RACISM out of table How should parents discuss race with their children? Start early, and keep the conversation going. Talk about racial differences in positive ways. Make sure any home library has books with black protagonists. These suggestions and many more come from Jessica Grose, editor of The Times’s Parenting section. She spoke with experts and link wrote up a list of suggested books dot She told us: We wanted to provide information for parents who want to have conversations with their children about racism and the protests over the killing of George Floyd. We also wanted to make clear that it’s a privilege to choose to have these conversations; as many of my sources emphasized, black families are having and have been having these conversations, and reading these books. The big takeaway here is that nonblack families don’t just need to talk about racism with their kids they need to show their kids they are also taking action. One comment, from Jacqueline Dougé, a pediatrician and child health advocate based in Maryland, really stuck with me: Because of our culture, I have a heavy burden as a black mom. But if I think my kids are going to end racism alone, I’m deluded. More resources: Jessica also recommends the conversation guides from link Embrace Race and link Raising Race link Conscious Children dot And you can link subscribe to Jessica’s newsletter here dot table with 2 rows and 1 columns row 1 column 1 row 2 heading level 3 PLAY, WATCH, EAT, JAM out of table heading level 2 Stick this sauce on everything Lemon goop, syrup and vinaigrette dot Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times What is lemon goop? It is somewhere between lemon marmalade and a salty, tangy jam. Stewed lemons, sugar and sea salt are turned into what is technically a condiment, though the cookbook author Dorie Greenspan link prefers to call it a transformer for seafood, veggies and more. link Here is Greenspan’s guide to making it dot table with 2 rows and 1 columns row 1 column 1 row 2 out of table heading level 2 For fans of Sally Rooney Exciting Times, the debut novel by author Naoise Dolan, follows a young Irishwoman as she becomes entrenched in the lives of Hong Kong’s elite. It’s already drawing comparisons to the work of another acclaimed young Irish novelist, Sally Rooney. link Our reviewer, Xuan Juliana Wang , writes that jealousy and obsession, love and late capitalism, sex and the internet all come whirling together in a wry and bracing tale of class and privilege. table with 2 rows and 1 columns row 1 column 1 row 2 out of table heading level 2 Watch something … timely Da 5 Bloods. David Lee slash Netflix Our weekly suggestion from Gilbert Cruz, The Times’s Culture editor: Next Friday, the latest Spike Lee film, Da 5 Bloods, will be released on Netflix. It’s about a group of black vets who go back to Vietnam on a personal mission decades after the war. ( link A trailer link is here. ) Lee is an essential American filmmaker and there’s never a bad time link to go through his link filmography dot Until then, I strongly recommend you make time for (or rewatch) Do the Right Thing. The 30 year old film about the tensions that grow over the course of a hot day on a Brooklyn block, resulting in a terrible act of violence, has always felt vital but feels particularly urgent again. Do the Right Thing is simultaneously blunt and subtle appropriate for a film that embraces duality, that makes room for the philosophies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, that makes its viewers both like and dislike almost everyone in it. Recently, our link co chief film critics link rewatched it and declared it still a towering achievement. That’s the truth, Ruth. table with 2 rows and 1 columns row 1 column 1 row 2 out of table heading level 2 Diversions list with 2 items bullet In link this week’s Modern Love , a writer navigates a new relationship while under quarantine. bullet Late night hosts link had some thoughts about Trump’s response to criticism from former Defense Secretary James Mattis. out of list table with 2 rows and 1 columns row 1 column 1 row 2 out of table heading level 2 Games Here’s link today’s Mini Crossword , and a clue: World’s largest democracy (five letters). Or try link this week’s news quiz dot link You can find all of our puzzles here dot table with 2 rows and 1 columns row 1 column 1 row 2 out of table Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you next week. David A correction: In yesterday’s newsletter we mistakenly referred to the televangelist Pat Robertson as Pat Roberts. You can see today’s print front page link here dot In today’s episode of link The Daily , five protesters discuss what brought them out to the streets. And listen to link the series finale of Rabbit Hole, our podcast about what becomes of our lives as we move online. The Times is providing free access to much of our coronavirus coverage. Please consider supporting our journalism with link a subscription dot We’d like your feedback! link Please fill out this short form dot Ian Prasad Philbrick and Sanam Yar contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at link themorning at nytimes dot com dot link Continue reading the main story table with 5 rows and 1 columns row 1 column 1 Need help? Review our link newsletter help page or link contact us for assistance. The Morning Briefing newsletter is now The Morning newsletter. 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