The anniversary of George Floyd’s death is Tuesday, May 25, and rallies have already been held to commemorate the date and continue pushing for justice. While there may not be as large crowds in as many cities as there were in the wake of Floyd's death, what's different this year is that the U.S. government is getting involved.
According to a State Department document, all U.S. "Diplomatic and Consular posts" have been given guidance on showing support for Black Lives Matter on Tuesday, according to a new report.
"The Department supports the use of the term 'Black Lives Matter' in messaging content, speeches, and other diplomatic engagements with foreign audiences to advance racial equity and access to justice on May 25 and beyond,” according to the memo, Human Events reports. "We encourage posts to focus on the need to eliminate systemic racism and its continued impact."
BLM flags may also be flown "on the external-facing flagpole to any Chiefs of Mission who determine such a display is appropriate in light of local conditions," the memo continues, adding that doing so is authorized, not required.
Blinken’s action request states the policy objective of the US govt is to promote ‘racial equity’ and ‘global racial justice’ pic.twitter.com/jBKqBHLjQs
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) May 24, 2021
As a reminder, widespread vandalism, rioting, and looting during BLM protests in the summer of 2020 caused more than $1 billion in damage to cities across the U.S. By September 2020, as more people caught on to the group's radical beliefs and support dwindled, BLM scrubbed its history. And yet here we are a year later, with the U.S. government showing its support in this very public way.
