A sign to the entrance of the so-called George Floyd Square in Minneapolis tells white people, in no uncertain terms, how they are expected to behave on the “sacred space” upon which they are treading.
George Floyd Square is the site of an ongoing “occupy” type of protest; smaller but similar to Seattle’s Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone of the summer of 2020. In actuality, the scene of the makeshift memorial is actually the intersection of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue South in Minneapolis. It is the site where George Floyd died in police custody in May of 2020. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering Floyd on Tuesday.
Set aside for the moment why this place is allowed to exist and the wisdom of martyring Floyd — who was resisting arrest when he died, plead guilty to entering a pregnant woman’s home and pointing a gun at her belly, and had the rap sheet of a career criminal.
Focus instead on the unrestrained racism of the sign at the entrance to the makeshift memorial.
After a brief “Welcome to George Floyd Square” announcement in which visitors are instructed to “Enter with reverence, humility and openness,” and to “Care for each other by wearing a mask,” a special section at the bottom of the note lists additional rules “For White people in particular.”
First, the sign tells people of Caucasian descent what their role at the memorial is: “Decenter yourself and come to listen, learn, mourn and witness. Remember you are here to support, not to be supported.”
Also, whites must be mindful of their volume and watch how they move in the space so as not to upset anyone else, and also avoid “decentering” themselves: “Be mindful of whether your volume, pace and movements are supporting or undermining your efforts to decenter yourself.”
New Age beliefs make an appearance on the sign as whites are encouraged to contribute only positive energy to the Black Lives Matter landmark; also, don’t bother anyone that is not also a white person: “Seek to contribute to the energy of the space, rather than drain it. Bring your own processing to other white folks so that you will not harm BIPOC.” BIPOC stands for “black, indigenous, and people of color.”
Photographs are definitely not encouraged: “Consider if you want or need to take photos and post them. Do not take photos of other people without their consent.”
Lastly, if fellow white people are acting contrary to the above rules or doing anything else that annoys people of color, speak to them nicely about their transgressions. Make it a teachable moment: “If you witness white folks doing problematic things, speak up with compassion to take the burden off of black folks and our siblings of color whenever appropriate. Seek to engage rather than escalate, so that it can be a learning moment rather than a disruption.”
The obvious question about such a blatantly racist sign is this: What would happen if white people posted special instructions for black people? Of course, there would be outrage, and well there should be. But in this case, white people are just expected to take the race bashing implicit in the signage.
The white people are the guilty ones after all.
Signs such as this one are indicative of what is being sown by the agitators who create them. They don’t seek to unite; they seek to divide. They seek white guilt upon which they can place unreasonable demands such as slavery reparations. They seek to further the ridiculous narrative that the police are somehow the enemy of black people instead of protectors of all in an increasingly violent world.
They seek racial animosity, upon which they hope to base revolution; not healing.
