White people who wish to visit the “George Floyd Square”, the spot where the 46-year old African man died last summer, will now need to follow special instructions when they go there. Matt Finn, national correspondent at Fox News, shared a photograph of a signboard put up at the site.
The George Floyd Square, where the convicted Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd and was recorded on video, quickly turned into a memorial for Floyd and was renamed in his memory shortly after his death.
A sign placed at the entrance of the Square welcomes people to a “sacred” space. It is not clear when the signboard was put up.
White people about to enter George Floyd square are given special instructions pic.twitter.com/3gzpwqUmtS
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) April 21, 2021
The sign calls upon visitors to “honor the space as a place to connect and grieve as caring humans.” However the sign also includes a special set of instructions for White people. White visitors need to “decenter” and “come to listen, learn, mourn, and witness.”
“Remember you are here to support, not to be supported,” the sign reads. White people are called upon to “contribute to the energy of the space, rather than drain it.” Any “processing” must be brought to “other white folks” so that “BIPOC” (an acronym for “Black and Indigenous people of color”) are not harmed.
If White visitors see other White folks doing “problematic things”, they are encouraged to “speak up with compassion to take the burden (off of) Black folks and our siblings or color whenever appropriate.” White people are then encouraged to “engage rather than escalate so that it can be a learning moment rather than a disruption.”
