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Living a mile from George Floyd Square, I've spent many hours at that intersection over the past three years, mourning, protesting, praying, talking, listening, learning. I'm sad but not surprised to learn that Minneapolis city officials expect another three years to pass before a permanent memorial of George Floyd's murder will finally be built.
On one hand, I'm irritated. The street corner where the 46-year-old Black man died under Officer Derek Chauvin's knee on Memorial Day 2020 looks shabby and combative these days. Crowds have dispersed, murals faded and the makeshift shrine of stuffed animals, notes, candles and plastic flowers does little to educate, challenge or inspire. Empty storefronts give visitors few reasons to stick around. George Floyd, local businesses, neighbors, visitors and the city deserve better.
On the other hand, I recognize that determining how to memorialize the most shameful parts of history is never easy. There are multiple constituencies, diverse visions and a generous supply of controversy.
The Vietnam War ended in 1975, but seven years passed before Maya Lin's black granite wall was installed and engraved with the names of 58,390 servicemen and women who died in that divisive war. Berlin's powerful Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe was inaugurated in May 2005, 60 years after World War II ended in Europe. Both monuments, once controversial, are now places for pilgrimage and reflection.
Designing a plan for George Floyd Square will require thoughtful, wide-ranging consultation, but that shouldn't be an excuse for stalemate or indecision. Memorials like those in Washington and Berlin are important. They can help us learn, reflect and heal from the most painful parts of our history. As civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson, the force behind the lynching memorial in Montgomery, Ala., notes: "Monuments create an opportunity for communities to begin a process of recovery, of reconciliation, of restoration." All of which Minneapolis badly needs.
In the meantime, there's work to be done to preserve and enhance the most powerful memorials that have grown up around 38th and Chicago. Shortly after Floyd's murder, on a nearby scrap of unused parkland, two art students from Philadelphia installed more than 100 plastic board tombstones bearing the names of Black Americans who died at the hands of police.
