George Floyd’s uncertain legacy is marked five years on

Americans on Sunday marked five years since George Floyd was killed by a police officer, as US President Donald Trump backtracked on reforms designed to tackle racism.

Americans on Sunday marked five years since George Floyd was killed by a police officer, as US President Donald Trump backtracked on reforms designed to tackle racism.

Floyd’s deadly arrest on May 25, 2020, helped launch the Black Lives Matter movement into a powerful force that sought to resolve America’s deeply rooted racial issues, from police violence to systemic inequality.

But since Mr Trump’s return to power in January – he was serving his first term when Floyd died – his administration has axed civil rights investigations and cracked down on diversity hiring initiatives.

BLM, meanwhile, finds itself lacking the support it enjoyed when protesters sprawled across American cities during the Covid pandemic – and many now agree that the movement achieved little of substance.

An anniversary event was to be held on Sunday local time in what has been named George Floyd Square, the area of Minneapolis where the 46-year-old took his final breath as police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck during an arrest.

Two yellow roses are pinned to a mural of George Floyd bearing the words "I can breathe now," in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

A small junction in a residential part of the city, the square was covered with protest art including a purple mural that read: “You Changed the World, George”. That optimistic message painted in 2020 is now, however, at odds with a president whose more extreme allies had suggested he should pardon Chauvin, who was convicted of murdering Floyd, and was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison.

Some experts believe Mr Trump’s re-election was partly a backlash to BLM activism, which included protests that turned to riots in some cities and calls to ­defund the police.

Floyd’s family members told AFP in Minneapolis on Friday that they wanted people to continue pushing for reform despite the hostile political climate.

“We don’t need an executive order to tell us that Black lives matter,” said his aunt Angela Harrelson, who wore a dark T-shirt depicting Floyd’s face. “We cannot let a setback be a holdback for the great comeback. Donald Trump just didn’t get the memo,” she added to nods from other relatives standing beside her.

Images filmed by a teenage bystander, Darnella Frazier, showed the police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck in 2020.

Paris Stevens, Floyd’s cousin, agreed: “No one can silence us anymore”.

The Floyd relatives, and about 50 other people, held a moment of silence on Friday before placing yellow roses on the spot where Floyd’s fatal arrest was filmed and shared around the world.

It was a moment of reflection – others include a candlelight vigil on Sunday night – during a weekend otherwise devoted to music, arts and dancing.

Memorial events have been held annually since Floyd’s death and the theme for this one – “The People Have Spoken” – was suggested by Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Nkosi, when he visited, Harrelson said.

She said the defiant title was meant to reflect five years of protesting, adding that “even though it’s tiresome, we go on”.

AFP