A List Detailing Why People are Participating in the George Floyd Protests
Based on media analysis of television, online news, social media, and Youtube.
The Society Library is not currently updating this story.
We are a non-profit organization that performs media analysis in order to capture the arguments, claims, and evidence from various points of view on social and political issues. We are currently focused on climate change and COVID-19 topics, however we performed a light media analysis on various George Floyd content, and this is what we found.
Why people may be participating in George Floyd Protests (based on media analysis)
In no particular order:
- To Make Demands for Justice
- See our full list of demands we’ve aggregated here.
- Publicly Honor/Mourn George Floyd
- With prayers, memorials, songs, speeches, marches, and demonstrations
- For Black People / People of Color to Be Seen
- To stand up for themselves and be seen, because their lives matter
- To Show Solidarity
- With People of Color/Black People (because #BlackLivesMatter)
- With the families who are victims of police brutality
- Between “good police” and citizens
- To Engage with Police Officers
- Request symbolic solidarity by asking them to kneel
- Engage in conversation
- Taunt, yell, antagonize police officers (i.e. shining lights in their eyes)
- Because people are “sick and tired” or “fed up” with:
- Institutionalized racism / racism in general (and White Supremacy)
- Systemic inequality / chronic poverty / lack of opportunity for People of Color and Black People
- Police brutality / killings in general, but also particularly for race-based brutality / killings (but including protests about the Ruby Ridge Incident)
- Inaction/lack of oversight in justice system
- Lack of social justice / positive social change / state of status quo
- The Trump Presidency / government leadership
- The 1% / Capitalistic America
(and they want change)
- Call for Peace and Show Love
- Because #BlackLivesMatter
- To Stop Business and Usual
- And demand attention for these issues
- To Support the Protestors
- Give out water, food, masks, sunscreen, hand sanitizer
- Give encouragement and support
- To Keep the Protests Peaceful
- The protests (particularly at night) have been reported to be co-opted by violent actors. Some people have joined in on the protests in order to ensure that they remain peaceful and don’t devolve into riots
- (Catharsis) To Express Raw Emotions
- About unresolved sentiments of political oppression
- About corporate/capitalist America #BoycottAmerikkka
- Of anger, hate, frustration, grief; possibly having to do with other issues, such as poverty, job loss, COVID-19 stressors, etc.
- Shame anyone who is complicit in the systemic oppression of People of Color and Black Americans
- Over military-industrial complex and police state condition of the United States
- Because This Is Historical, and They Don’t Want To Miss Out
- Which can be as dignifying as being a part of a historical social movement (which signals a sense of pride), or
- As simple as FOMO (fear of missing out)
- To Take Advantage of the Chaos
- Loot and steal
- Destroy public, private, and police property
It is reported that there may be many groups co-opting the protests in order to advance their own interests, including various political groups and even criminal looters. We are working on sorting out the various actors, actions, intents, and sentiments of various groups involved. You can see our work in progress here.
In sum, there are sentiments being expressed that the George Floyd protests are being co-opted to:
- Justify a military state or police state
- To stage a military Coup d’état
- To bring about anarchy or anarchist revolutionary ideals
- To commit crimes, loot, and vandalize under the guise of protesting
- Promote other extreme leftists or extreme right ideals
- Incite a civil war
- Destroy the image of the Trump Presidency
- etc.
To read more about our methodology and values, please visit our website: SocietyLibrary.com
