George Floyd Square Gives Particular Instructions for White Visitors

A sign welcoming people to the Minneapolis intersection where George Floyd was killed gives white visitors particular instructions on how to behave while in the area.

The poster board sign appears near the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, now memorialized as George Floyd Square after the 46-year-old black man was killed there by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. It includes general instructions to visitors entering the “sacred space for community, public grief, and protest” and adds a separate set of instructions “for white people in particular.”

“Decenter yourself and come to listen, learn, mourn and witness,” the sign reads in its first instruction addressed to white people, continuing, “Remember you are here to support, not be supported.”

“Seek to contribute to the energy of the space, rather than drain it,” it adds. “Bring your own processing to other white folks so that you will not harm BIPOC [black, indigenous people, and people of color].”

The sign also tells white people to “speak up with compassion to take the burden off of Black folks” if they notice other white people doing “problematic things.”

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A city spokesperson said the city did not put up the sign, pointing the Washington Examiner to community organizers in George Floyd Square. {snip}

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