After Tragedy, Making a Place to Gather for Support and Solidarity - The New York Times

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MINNEAPOLIS — Cup Foods, near the site of George Floyd’s fatal encounter with the police, is an unassuming store across from a Speedway gas station and Dragon Wok.

The memorial to Mr. Floyd at the site is ever expanding. Almost everyone who visits it stops and poses for a selfie. The gathered crowd is a cross section of race and class. Ranay Barton, 18, has been out since the night of Mr. Floyd’s death.

“I came out here because I was angry,” she said. “The first thing that ran through my mind was to be mad at white people. When things like this happen, you tend to segregate yourself. But seeing all the support and solidarity calmed me down. All these people are different colors, from different places, coming together for a purpose. I feel like the world should be like that.”

It has become a place to gather and reflect about race.

“We need white people to stand up,” said Lux Thunberg, who, like most people in the neighborhood where she grew up, is black. “We need white people who are not comfortable with racism to talk to those who are.”

Ms. Barton worried about whether there would be sustained change. “If his death doesn’t do anything, the world will fall apart,” she said. “People are fed up. When people are angry, they are unpredictable. Most of the time, nothing happens to the killers. You should never lose your life over a petty crime.”

Buses, cars and discarded shipping pallets were used to block entry to the memorial. A long list of the names of black people killed by the police was chalked into the middle of the road. Businesses nearby have started to reopen. D.J.s set up, and as the sun sets and the day cools, the parking lot of the Speedway gas station across the street turns into a raucous dance party.

But even as the mood has lifted in recent days, the significance and heaviness of the place still dominates.

Ms. Barton leaned back on a couch set up under the Speedway gas sign, in an area now known as “George Floyd Square,” and sighed.

“Whenever I see an innocent black man get killed, I see my brother. That could be me,” she said. “I’m tired. We shouldn’t be facing this in 2020.”

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After Tragedy, Making a Place to Gather for Support and Solidarity - The New York Times
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