‘Great sign’ or ‘very unfortunate’? Black Lives Matter supporters split over $6M purchase

When Kulia Petzoldt first learned of George Floyd’s death in 2020, she and her teenage daughter ventured to Lake Merritt in Oakland, California, to protest alongside a mass of people demanding justice. 

Petzoldt, who is white, said growing up around different cultures and having friends who were Black made her feel more conscious of the racial discrimination Black people faced. The Black Lives Matter movement solidified that awareness.

“We can’t just do nothing,” Petzoldt, 42, said, “and particularly those of us who are sort of protected by society.”

Beyond protesting, Petzoldt and millions of others donated a cumulative $90 million in 2020 as people rallied behind eradicating racial inequality. She said she donated a few hundred dollars to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation on various occasions, including a donation of $50 after reading that the foundation had purchased a $6 million mansion in Southern California, which was first reported by New York Magazine. To Petzoldt, the purchase was a sign of stability, she said.