Paper short abstract:

The aim of this paper is to discuss the prevailing myth of race and of the national dilemma of discrimination and systemic racism in the U.S. by focusing on the myth-ritual component of the national public debate, examining the vocabulary of public protest and public actions in the public domain.

Paper long abstract:

The purpose of this discussion is to examine the traditional folkloric nature of the forms of public display of anger and displeasure. Traumatized societies and disaffected youths are important aspects of this story because the reliance on traditional folk forms of expression which can lead to a general acceptance in the society. Demonstrators and organizers rely heavily on traditional folkloric genres of play and ritual in order to create a successful event, in this case, a demonstration that focuses on a specific item. In the contemporary case of memorial or monumental art in the public domain, primarily in the form of statues and the popular protest against the specific piece, the statue reveals and illustrates that the public performance of the popular protest against a past injustice takes a traditional form of expression. Using ritual and play as the organizing principle of the successful nature of the demonstrations, I will illustrate this principle as it has been employed in the United States during the early months of the year, 2020. Finally, I want to use the specific examples of Christopher Columbus memorabilia and of a demonstration protest in Madison, Wisconsin, during which a statue of a Norwegian American Civil War officer’s statue was taken down and decapitated during the wider public demonstration of ritual-play against racism in the United States.