After initially declaring that the artwork would be permanent, the city's Democratic mayor, Muriel Bowser, has agreed to remove the "Black Lives Matter" mural covering a large portion of 16th Street Northwest near the White House.
Shortly after U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia) introduced legislation that called for the downtown area to be renamed from Black Lives Matter Plaza to Liberty Plaza and told D.C. to choose between the slogan or continued federal funding and the Home Rule Act of 1973, which grants the city limited autonomy, Mayor Bowser released a statement.
"The mural inspired millions of people and helped our city through a very painful period, but now we can't afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference," she wrote on X.
"When I first saw the story, I was actually deeply pleased to see this happen," says Washington resident Stone Washington, an ambassador with the Project 21 Black Leadership Network and a research fellow in the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Center for Advancing Capitalism.
"I do attribute this to the Trump effect, even maybe possibly also to the DOGE effect, which is to tether federal funding and make sure it's used in a manner that's responsible," he adds.
He submits that Black Lives Matter should not be glorified. The movement was founded in 2020 by three black women, two of whom are self-proclaimed queer. Their main goals, stated on the BLM website at the time, were to normalize sexual deviance, deconstruct the biblical definition of family, and emasculate strong black men who identify as straight.
"Cars shouldn't have to drive down the street where it just has this large symbol of hate," Washington contends. "Black Lives Matter, they've done so many horrible things – the summer 2020 protests, they've destroyed a large number of cities, broke windows, set things on fire, broke into cars. A lot of what they've done can be attributed to criminal actions."
He says removing the mural from the public street is "long overdue and needs to be done."
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) confirmed on Saturday that plans to remove the mural would begin today. The "reconstruction" will take between six to eight weeks.
