"I would argue that aestheticization is a much more radical form of death that traditional iconoclasm...The museum institutionalizes the truly radical, atheistic, revolutionary violence that demonstrates the past as incurably dead. It is a purely materialistic death without return—the aestheticized material corpse functions as a testimony to the impossibility of resurrection. (Actually, this is why Stalin insisted so much on permanently exhibiting the dead Lenin’s body to the public. Lenin’s Mausoleum is a visible guarantee that Lenin and Leninism are truly dead. That is also why the current leaders of Russia do not hurry to bury Lenin—contrary to the appeals made by many Russians to do so. They do not want the return of Leninism, which would become possible if Lenin were buried.)" - Boris Groys.
I absolutely agree the statue should be gone from the public square, and am surprised that it was still standing, but I don't agree with the way this was done. It should be put in a museum where people can learn about Bristol's links to slavery. The ex-soviet countries have put a lot of theirs in sculpture parks. If anyone's been on the Moscow underground, you'll see it's a treasure trove of soviet era art - should they take a sledgehammer to it all? Or does it get a pass because that was white people murdering other white people? If so, why the distinction? You could argue the soviet legacy is very much alive in Russia and other ex-states, and this is in the more recent past.
All I see in that video is testosterone, mainly white males having a good time committing an act of vandalism, and as a woman I would feel very uncomfortable around such unpredictable mob behaviour. I support anti-racism and the right to peacefully protest, but don't believe anyone should be above the law - who then gets to decide what is fair enough game for destruction if that's not decided democratically? Women have been to all intents and purposes slaves throughout history, treated as property, should we have every statue of every politician from the past torn down for keeping us enslaved? Or don't we matter, because we're just women?
George Floyd didn't deserve to die and the way he died is sickening. I do find it rather selective how he's being treated as though he's a saintly martyr though, whereas in fact he was a violent criminal. It's the dishonesty, not just of this narrative, but of other leftist social justice narratives, that means I just can't get involved where I otherwise would. I would like to support anti-racism, but this movement along with others are so permeated with half-truths and lack of scrutiny, a demand to capitulate to only one narrative, that I feel I can't keep my integrity and do so. And now we've seen this used as an excuse for further acts of male violence around the world, with cops being shot, shops being looted etc. I noticed in one news story how a group of female volunteers who had been peacefully protesting had cleared up the mess others had made with their vandalism, same old story, men running amok and women cleaning up after them. I support anti-racism, will happily take part in a peaceful protest, but I'm so tired of the testosterone. I've of course seen this not just with BLM, but on other kinds of protests, it's pretty typical. It just makes me very cynical and not want to get involved.