Construction crews have begun removing a “Black Lives Matter” mural that has existed in Washington D.C., just blocks from the White House, since 2020.
The mural was initially created as a recognition by city leaders of large-scale uprisings that happened across the country in the summer of that year, including in Washington D.C. itself, which were in response to police-perpetrated killings of Black people like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. In addition to the mural, the district also renamed the area where it is displayed to “Black Lives Matter Plaza.”
Both moves demonstrated stark opposition by the city to President Donald Trump, who had disparaged the uprisings and called for militarized repression to end them.
Mayor Muriel Bowser had initially declared the mural and the plaza name permanent. However, following threats of massive funding cuts from Republicans this year, Bowser has now changed her mind.
Washington D.C. could have lost $270 million in federal highway funds had Republicans followed through on their threats. A bill proposed by one Republican lawmaker would have also required the city to rename the area where the mural was as “Liberty Plaza.”
“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,” Bowser said.
Complete removal of the mural and renovation of the street is expected to take between 6-8 weeks, ABC News reported. Residents of the city spoke out against the destruction of the mural earlier this week.
“You can dig up concrete, but you can’t erase history. We’re not going to be erased,” D.C. resident Dianne Bradley said.
“To see [the mural] destroyed because of capitulating to Donald Trump is beyond insulting,” community organizer Kymone Freeman said.
While the district’s removal of the mural was a capitulation to Republican threats of funding reductions, GOP lawmakers are still set to make huge funding cuts to Washington D.C.
House Republicans passed a stopgap funding measure last week to ensure the federal government continues to function for the next six months. However, the continuing resolution also includes several measures aimed at cutting spending, including $1 billion in cuts from Washington D.C.’s budget, as Republicans removed standard legislative language that has helped fund the city since a “home rule” law was passed more than five decades ago.
The district funds 75 percent of its own budget through local taxes and other revenues, but the remainder is paid for by the federal government.
It’s unclear why the standard funding language was left out of the continuing resolution. “What we think is, this was a mistake they don’t want to admit to,” D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson said.
Democratic senators could block the continuing resolution from moving forward. However, because of a Friday funding deadline, doing so could result in a government shutdown if another compromise bill isn’t passed, which some Democrats have expressed wanting to avoid.
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