Two weeks after Minneapolis police officers killed George Floyd, the videos are still coming. Enormous crowds of peaceful protesters demand justice for Floyd and other victims of anti-black police brutality.
Alongside the many peaceful protests, there are scattered acts of violence and even looting. And so out come the confident moral verdicts on political violence. We are usually offered a choice between two absolutist views: either violence is a brave corrective to sclerotic social apathy, or it is an inexcusable corruption of noble protest.
But I think neither of these options is satisfying. This situation demands more nuanced moral attitudes than simple celebration or condemnation. A failure to recognize moral ambiguity is leading us to dangerous political ends.
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