Gold and Crimson Lights Illuminate City in Remembrance of George Floyd
June 9, 2020 - San Antonio
Honor and remembrance. The Frost Bank Tower is one of the buildings being illuminated in honor of George Floyd, a black man who died while in the custody of the Minneapolis police on May 25. Photo: Jade Esteban Estrada.
By Jade Esteban Estrada - Staff Writer, San Antonio Sentinel
San Antonio will join other cities around the nation in lighting numerous buildings with gold and crimson in honor of the late George Floyd. The illumination began Monday evening, on the eve of his memorial and funeral in Houston.
Buildings that will be lit with the colors representing Houston’s Jack Yates High School, where Floyd graduated, will include the top level of the Tower of the Americas, the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, the Frost Bank Tower, the marquee on the Alamodome and the Consolidated Rental Car facility at the San Antonio International Airport.
“We are happy to be part of this effort organized by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the African American Mayors Association,” said Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who added that Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner personally requested that San Antonio join in recognizing Floyd.
“Our City Hall is under construction, but we have other ways to light up this city,” Nirenberg later said via Instagram.
Floyd’s death, which occurred while in custody of the Minneapolis police, has sparked demonstrations around the nation, protesting systemic racism, police use of force and the mistreatment of African Americans.
“What happened to George Floyd was nothing short of murder,” said Sheriff Javier Salazar on June 5 at a town hall meeting with the Baptist Ministers’ Union of San Antonio and the local chapter of the NAACP. “And I think the vast majority of law enforcement officers in this country are going to agree with that wholeheartedly. Just as equal of a travesty was the three officers that stood there and did nothing to stop it…to intervene. We’re working very hard in our agency to prevent that very same situation from happening [here].”
The City of San Antonio is committed to addressing racism and advancing equality, said a City spokesperson.
Jade Esteban Estrada is a staff writer at the San Antonio Sentinel, where he covers public health and other citywide issues. He can be reached at jade@sasentinel.com.