Looking for a quote about the destruction of property

June 17, 2020 8:00 AM

A friend mentioned seeing a quote on Instagram recently regarding the destruction of property being an appropriate response to a justice system that values property over human life. The key words might vary -- appropriate/justified/expected, justice system/society/world, etc. -- but the sentiment remains. He can't remember the exact quote or source. I'm having no luck searching via Instagram or Google. I would love to find this quote. Thank you.
posted by Majorita to Society & Culture (7 answers total)

It might come from this article: “ We can rebuild a building, but we will never reclaim the life George Floyd didn’t get to live. For years, protesters tried peace. It didn’t work. If this is what it takes to get justice, then it will have been worth it.”
posted by OneSmartMonkey at 8:18 AM on June 17, 2020

Could it be this?
posted by Waiting for Pierce Inverarity at 8:40 AM on June 17, 2020 [4 favorites]

I've heard a lot about property destruction is a reasonable response to breaking the social contract, I think probably most popularly from Trevor Noah.
posted by phunniemee at 9:02 AM on June 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

There was U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson's June 5 ruling, which included

If a store’s windows must be broken to prevent a protestor’s facial bones from being broken or eye being permanently damaged, that is more than a fair trade. If a building must be graffiti-ed to prevent the suppression of free speech, that is a fair trade. The threat to physical safety and free speech outweighs the threat to property.

posted by Lexica at 9:31 AM on June 17, 2020 [6 favorites]

The quote linked above by Waiting for Pierce Inverarity is the first one I thought of when I read your question.
posted by mekily at 11:12 AM on June 17, 2020

Just for the record, the image on instagram linked by Waiting for Pierce Inverarity, is an image of this tweet:

Hampton Institute @HamptonThink
You can't commodify every single aspect of living and then not understand looting as a legitimate form of protest. Looting is the ultimate strike against a system that deems mass-produced objects to be far more precious than life itself. It is humanity demanding to be recognized.
11:06PM - 27 May 20 - Twitter for Android

posted by maxwelton at 11:40 AM on June 17, 2020 [5 favorites]

Something along these lines that was recently seen by a lot of people and quoted widely is Trevor Noah's segment on looting.

This was the excerpt I sent around at the time:

"If you felt unease watching that Target being looted, try to imagine how it must feel for black Americans when they watch themselves being looted every single day. Police in America are looting black bodies."
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 3:32 PM on June 17, 2020