More than a year has passed since the killing of George Floyd, and Minneapolis decided it was time to take back the autonomous zone of “George Floyd Square.” Without advance warning or fanfare, workers showed up, bulldozers huffed and concrete barriers were removed. And then the battle began.
Crews on Thursday removed the concrete barriers that blocked traffic at a Minneapolis intersection where a memorial to George Floyd was assembled after his death last year, but community activists quickly put up makeshift barriers and resumed chanting the name of the Black man whose killing galvanized the racial justice movement.
It took the crews less than four hours to clear the barriers, artwork, flowers and other items from 38th Street and Chicago Avenue where Floyd was killed, informally known as George Floyd Square. City spokeswoman Sarah McKenzie said a fist sculpture, which stands several feet tall, will remain. The city said the effort was led by a community group known as Agape and several city departments were involved.
The reasons to put an end to the makeshift memorial, and no-go zone, were not dissimilar to the reasons for its creation and maintenance. People lived there. People had businesses there. People were being killed there. People drove through there. Opening it was for the people, just as closing it was “for the people,” except different people.
Traffic briefly flowed through the intersection Thursday morning after the concrete barriers were removed, but community members quickly erected new makeshift barriers. Dozens of people gathered near the intersection, singing, chanting Floyd’s name and giving speeches expressing frustration and urging people to continue organizing.
On the one side, there were the citizens, residents, business owners and random people who had yet to have a bullet find a home in their body, able to use a city street again. On the other side were dozens of people singing, chanting and giving speeches because this was hallowed ground.
Police were not seen at the intersection on Thursday morning and there was no visible police presence later in the day. Mayor Jacob Frey said avoiding clashes between activists and police was of utmost concern, and going forward, the police will patrol the area just like any other neighborhood in the city.
Frey said a phased reopening of the intersection was necessary to promote healing, restore area businesses, and provide social and city services that have been lacking for a year. He said artwork from the memorial will be preserved, and that the city wants to ensure the location where Floyd died “never has tires run over it again.”
It’s hard to have a city street and a location that “never has tires run over it again.” That’s pretty much what happens on streets. Was this really about one man, George Floyd, such that it would be a place that would “live in infamy”?
But the intersection had also become an autonomous zone of sorts that the police avoided; some residents complained that it had become dangerous and detrimental to nearby businesses. Several shootings have erupted in the area, including when one man was shot in broad daylight on the anniversary of Mr. Floyd’s death last month.
Did that one man, who was shot in broad daylight, have a life that mattered too?
“That is the narrative,” said Akeem Cubie, 32, who said the Agape Movement had advised city officials about how to peacefully reopen the intersection. “They don’t want to take the backlash coming in here.”
But Mr. Cubie, who grew up near the intersection and now lives elsewhere in Minneapolis, said that the neighborhood had become a hub for gangs and that clearing the memorial would make it safer for the community.
“What is this here for?” he asked, motioning to the intersection filled with protesters. “Is this here for you to just come over here and have a good time? Our life doesn’t turn off even though you probably have a good time. We’ve still got to go home.”
I remember well Brian Cuban driving me through Dallas and pointing out the spot where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It was a street. Cars drove over it. And yet, it was the place where a national tragedy occurred. Perhaps the spot on Chicago Avenue where George Floyd was killed matters more to some people. But who decides who wins this battle?
Discover more from Simple Justice
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
So the mayor has decided “avoiding clashes between activists and the police is of utmost concern”, but is the burden all on the city in that regard, or do the activists have some duties and responsibilities such that it’s a two-way street? Because signalling “we’ll roll over for you, and you owe us nothing because we don’t want to get in the way of your righteous activism” is how you wind up in out-of-control situations like Portland.
Why would activists have any burdens? They’re not elected to any office. They took no oath. They have no job duties. They’re in control as long as the city acquiesces to their control and the rest of the city sits back and does nothing more than gripe about it.
True; the future belongs to those who show up, not those who sit and complain in front of the TV or on internet comment sections.
Although I doubt that any attempted counter-activism or counter-protests that took to the streets to help secure Chicago Ave from the current occupiers would face similar kid glove treatment, especially if it seemed to be heavily populated by the MAGA crowd.
But that’s the thing; the people who are calling for this anarchy to end aren’t MAGA types, but their neighbors and store owners. This is almost always pitched as a battle between hard left and hard right, when it’s the people in the middle who are very much opposed to a few activists usurping control of their city to their detriment.
The list of demands includes numerous issues outside the power of the City of Minneapolis to address. Hence, unless these stupid shits plan to be “caretakers” of this intersection forever, they will lose. The city has perpetual existence, and the self-appointed caretakers do not.
So wait them out? That doesn’t do much for the residents and store owners, not to mention the people who need police protection.