No Bad Protesters: Ethics, Social War, and the George Floyd Uprising

A "universal ethic of revolt” erupted across the streets of America.

The 2020 George Floyd uprising was the largest upheaval in the United States in half a century. Within days of the horrifying police murder, thousands of people in hundreds of cities were marching, fighting, and throwing down for Big Floyd.

Drawing on extensive interviews with front-line participants from Minneapolis, Atlanta, Richmond, Detroit, and beyond, Arturo Castillon uncovers a key motivation for the George Floyd rebels: in a world governed by laws serving racial capitalism, the revolt opened a path for ethically meaningful action.

Amidst grief, crisis, and isolation, Castillon highlights how the revolt allowed front-line fighters the experience of a shared world denied to them under the current order. No Bad Protestors shows how this ethics of social war was a central factor in why American cities rebelled in 2020—and how the fear this uprising struck in the hearts of the ruling classes has shaped our current reactionary political landscape.