D.C. is bidding farewell to its beloved ‘Black Lives Matter’ painting. The painting located only a block away from the Capitol building is now being demolished by the crews. The sudden tearing down of the mural is raising many questions, one being what is Donald Trump trying to signify.
Muriel Bowser who serves as the mayor of D.C. took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to talk about the significant mural. She noted how the mural has inspired millions of D.C. residents. The politician also recalled how the painting helped the people get through a “painful period” of time.
“But now we can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference,” the Democrat added. Bowser pointed out that the people’s priority at the moment should be the “devastating impacts” of the federal job cuts that DOGE is behind.
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The painting was originally made after George Floyd, a black man, lost his life in an act of police brutality. In June 2020, the intersection that the painting was on was renamed ‘Black Lives Matter Plaza.’
This chain of events took place during Trump’s first term as President. The mural served more or less as an act of public defiance towards the government. Bowser had even butted heads with Trump in 202o over how the Black Lives Matter protests were handled by the government.
Crews have already started tearing down and painting the mural that once lay on the intersection. Bowser revealed that the process will take around 6 weeks and will be painted over by a set of “unspecified set of city-sponsored murals” according to the Associated Press.
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The CEO of Equus Striping, the company that previously painted the mural addressed it being torn down. Megan Bailiff noted how “historically obscene” the act of demolishing the painting was. She also noted that the mural existing was “more significant at this very moment than it ever has been in this country.”
“2020 was a moment in history, and now this plaza is being erased. Do actions like this help ‘move forward,’ or do they just rewrite the past?” one user took to X to question the Trump administration’s move. Another netizen wrote about how the government can “remove signs” but not the people’s “resistance.”
Trump supporters were extremely pleased with the demolition and praised him for his decision. A user took to X to post pictures and videos of the plaza being torn down. “Black Lives Matter “BLM” Plaza should be renamed something patriotic or inclusive for EVERYONE,” the caption accompanying the post read.
Another noted how the new name of the plaza would be “good and sane.” A third user wrote about how “glad” they were to see the mural being removed. “Only if it doesn’t cost $4.8M like BLM plaza did (D.C. used 4.8M of their COVID money for the plaza),” another netizen noted.
