Washington, DC scraps Black Lives Matter mural after Trump pressure

Workers in Washington have begun ­removing a Black Lives Matter street mural, bowing to pressure from Donald Trump.

The Black Lives Matter street mural in Washington, DC. Picture: AFP

Workers in Washington have begun ­removing a Black Lives Matter street mural installed during the height of 2020 racial justice protests, bowing to pressure from President Donald Trump.

Large, yellow lettering reading “Black Lives Matter” has been painted on a road near the White House since June 2020, when protests broke out across the nation following the police killing of ­George Floyd, an unarmed black man. City officials have credited the art installation with calming tensions near the White House, where clashes had occurred in the previous days.

Mr Trump, who was president at the time, returned to office in January seeking to overturn so-called diversity, equity and ­inclusion (DEI) practices that spread widely throughout the public and private sectors following the Floyd protests.

Congressional Republicans and Trump aides had eyed the mural as part of their move to force changes in the administration of Washington, an overwhelmingly Democratic city.

Democrat mayor Muriel Bowser has sought to establish a good working relationship with Mr Trump, seeking to head off ­Republican calls to remove the city’s right to govern itself. She has also been worried that mass layoffs of federal workers by Mr Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk could wreak havoc on the city’s finances.

“We have bigger fish to fry than fights over what has been very important to us and to the history, and especially in our ability to keep our city safe during that time – that mural played a very important part,” Ms Bowser said last week.

“But now our focus is on making sure our residents and our economy survives.” When asked if it was in response to White House pressure, she said: “I’m not going to talk about specifics … but I think it’s safe to say that people don’t like it, didn’t like it.”

As jackhammers ploughed away on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) at the pavement, many onlookers snapped photos of the work. Two African-American women said they had come to get a final look at the mural, expressing dismay at the decision to ­remove it.

Both said they were lifelong Democrats. “It’s history … and now they’re basically saying it didn’t happen,” said one of them.

“The money you’re spending to remove it could’ve been spent on so many other things.”

AFP