D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Wednesday her plan to remove the huge “Black Lives Matter” road mural and street name was because the city has “bigger fish to fry” than engaging in a political fight with congressional Republicans who threatened to withhold federal funds from the District.
Ms. Bowser, a Democrat, said the mural and accompanying “Black Lives Matter Plaza” street name “played a very important part” in the city’s history after its installation in June 2020.
She originally renamed the symbolic stretch of road on 16th Street Northwest — which sits just north of the White House — after nationwide protests and riots broke out after George Floyd, a Black man, was murdered while being arrested by Minneapolis police.
The mayor said the District’s concern now is adjusting to dire revenue forecasts that show the city losing more than $300 million in tax revenue in each of the next three years due to the Trump administration’s push for federal layoffs, building sales and spending cuts.
“While I recognize that there is frustration, and people want someone to blame or they want somebody to be mad at, I don’t think that’s where we are in D.C.,” Ms. Bowser said at a press briefing. “I think we’re in the place where we’re locking arms. They want us to be smart and strategic and get to the other side. And that’s my job — I’m going to navigate us to the other side.”
Ms. Bowser didn’t offer a timeline of when the mural and street name would be removed.
Her announcement came after Rep. Andrew Clyde, Georgia Republican, introduced a bill this week threatening to pull federal funding over the contested two-block area.
The congressman’s legislation also called for renaming the strip to “Liberty Plaza.”
Ms. Bowser said she’s no fan of the proposal, but didn’t comment on its chances of being passed.
The mayor added that she was planning on discussing the mural’s removal later this month during a meeting about the nation’s 250th-anniversary celebration next summer, but Mr. Clyde’s proposal sped up her timeline.
She shared an idea about having D.C. school children paint a mural on the same segment of road for the quincentennial celebration in July 2026.
In October 2021, Ms. Bowser said the mural and name Black Lives Matter Plaza would be permanent.
The mayor also spoke on President Trump’s decision to reportedly back off signing an executive order focused on cleaning up homeless camps and cracking down on crime in the District.
Ms. Bowser simply said the potential order “wasn’t a good idea” because the White House never specified how it wanted to accomplish what it proposed.
