FROM POLICE REFORM TO POLICE ABOLITION? HOW MINNEAPOLIS ACTIVISTS FOUGHT TO MAKE BLACK LIVES MATTER*
The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) officers in 2020 was a watershed moment, triggering protests across the country and unprecedented promises by city leaders to “end” the MPD. We use interviews and archival materials to understand the roots of this decision, tracing the emergent split between activists fighting for police reform and police abolition in the wake of the initial Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in Minneapolis. We compare the frames used by these two sets of movement actors, arguing that abolitionists deployed more radical frames to disrupt hegemonic understandings of policing, while other activists fought to resonate with the existing discursive structure. After years of police reform, Floyd’s death and the rebellion that followed gave abolitionist discourses more resonance. In the discussion, we consider the future of public safety in Minneapolis and its implications for understanding frame resonance in Black movements.
Contributor Notes
* For generative suggestions and critiques, we thank Will Cooley, Mason Jones, William Jones, Malinda Lindquist, C. Daniel Myers, Joshua Page, Amber Joy Powell, Victor Ray, Ashley Rubin, Sophia Sarantakos, Aisha Upton, Michael Walker, Tony Williams, and the issue editors and anonymous reviewers. Special thanks to Joe Soss, who reviewed an early draft and suggested we incorporate Myra Marx Ferree’s work on resonance and radicalism. Thanks also to the team of research assistants on the broader project, including Santino Reynolds, AshLee Smith, De Andre’ Beadle, Amber Joy Powell, and Christopher Robertson, and to Emma Frankham for skillful editing. Finally, our deepest thanks to the activists, organizers, and community leaders who shared their experiences and fight to bring more justice to Minneapolis.
† Michelle S. Phelps is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota. Anneliese Ward is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Sociology at The Ohio State University. Dwjuan Frazier is a PhD Student in the Department of History at the University of Minnesota. Please direct all correspondence to: phelps@umn.edu or 1035 Social Sciences, 267 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55455.