Home - A George Mason Community Archive

Collecting the Mason community's experiences

Racial Reckoning is a response to the mass protests spreading across our nation and the globe following the police-involved killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Rayshard Brooks this spring and summer of 2020. These events are part of a long history of racism in the United States. The end of the Civil War and American slavery did not bring equality for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Today, unarmed BIPOC encounter racist micro-aggressions and systemic racism in their everyday lives, and compared to white counterparts, are disproportionately likely to be stopped, falsely arrested, and killed by the police.

This Omeka site seeks to collect, preserve, and present the stories, personal experiences, and digitally-born materials of protests against racism and white supremacy as experienced by members of the broader George Mason community. Beginning in spring 2020, the Mason community has been largely dispersed due to COVID-19 and the summer intercession. Documenting this moment means capturing experiences that may have happened on- or off-campus, in a nearby city, or even farther away in another state. So if you are a Mason student, staff, of faculty member and experienced a protest away from campus, your experience can be part of this story.

Here are some things you could contribute

• Photos of Black Lives Matter Plaza murals, fencing, and signs in Washington, DC,  or of Confederate statues in Richmond with graffiti

• Images of yourself at a protest march on campus, in your neighborhood, or at a place you visited*

• A PDF of article about these events that moved you

• Materials that show reactions to statues or memorials of slaveholders, such as the George Mason IV statue on campus, or efforts to reclaim or reinterpret these spaces and monuments

• An image of a book or resource that helped you learn about the history of racism, discrimination, or white privilege

• A screenshot of your own social media posts from the time relating to these events*

• Pictures of protest posters, masks, and other materials

• Video or audio that documents your experience*

*Let's respect everyone's privacy. If you add materials that show someone else's likeness, please be sure to ask their permission first. Forget to ask permission? Please use this to blur identifying features like faces, tattoos, etc., before uploading.

Contribute your experience here.