Targeting D.C.’s BLM Plaza, GOP Congress says Black lives don’t matter

In this June 6, 2020, file photo, demonstrators protest near the White House in Washington, over the death of George Floyd. | Alex Brandon / AP

WASHINGTON—Black lives don’t matter. That’s the message from Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia, author of legislation which would withhold federal money from the District of Columbia if Mayor Muriel Bowser didn’t rename Black Lives Matter Plaza.

The move is part of a decades-long assault on D.C. home rule. Clyde’s bill states the District must remove the “Black Lives Matter” phrasing from every website, document, signage, or other material under its jurisdiction.

Activists in the city say this affront is aimed at erasing people’s rage at murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, which sparked protests nationwide. On Tuesday night, Bowser acquiesced, saying the plaza would be painted over.

In a March 3 X post announcing his attack, Clyde said the Black Lives Matter movement was “nothing but corruption and division.” He wrote: “It’s time for our nation to leave this failed agenda behind—starting with the removal of the BLM Plaza from America’s capital.”

He called BLM “a radical, defund the police organization,” and said the U.S. is “not a defund the police nation.”

Beyond the blatant racism of his attacks, Clyde’s move is also done with the intention of using federal funding as a means to strongarm the local government into going along with whatever demand Congressional Republicans have in mind. Grandstanding on the issue of BLM Plaza shows also that real issues facing the District—like the thousands of federal workers being laid-off—are not a priority for GOP leaders.

Clyde who represents Georgia’s 9th District, is no stranger to interfering in D.C. affairs. In 2022, the congressman advocated repealing the Home Rule Act, which is what allows the District to govern itself. Passed in 1973, it created the branches of the D.C. government and D.C. Council.

He follows in the tradition of Georgia predecessors like Congressman James Davis, who led a hearing in 1956 aimed at halting the desegregation of D.C. high schools, such as Anacostia High School. Davis maintained that with desegregation there would be a “lowering of public school standards.”

Bowser confirmed that Black Lives Matter Plaza will be renamed on Tuesday night. In a statement, she said:

“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. The devastating impacts of the federal job cuts must be our number one concern. Our focus is on economic growth, public safety, and supporting our residents affected by these cuts.”

The next day, President Donald Trump posted a “thank you” note in the form of further demands to Bowser on social media. He told her to “clean up all of the unsightly homeless encampments in the City,” especially near the State Department and White House.

If she doesn’t comply, he threatened the federal government would intervene. Trump closed by writing, “Thank you for your efforts” and saying, “Hopefully you will be successful!”

Bowser’s decision to cave so quickly to Clyde’s demands has left local activists angry.

“Mayor Bowser cannot claim to be a champion of Black lives while simultaneously ceding ground to a white supremacist administration and Congress and cutting social programs to the poor,” Dante O’Hara from the Claudia Jones School for Political Education told People’s World Thursday.

“She needs to resign and be replaced by someone who will defend and fight for the District’s residents,” O’Hara said.

The Free D.C. Project made a post on social media saying, “Obeying in advance does not make us safer.” The organization characterized Bowser’s caving as “anticipatory obedience,” a tactic authoritarian leaders use to intimidate people into obeying orders without even needing to use force.

Clyde’s attack on BLM Plaza proves that the District is still a beacon to the rest of the country and world, so much so that the far-right feels the need to yet again try erasing its history as a Black city standing against racism and oppression.

Even though the mural may be changed, it doesn’t mean the people’s voices are going unheard. In moments like these, collective action on a focused goal is most important to accomplish the objective of protecting history and maintaining D.C. Home Rule for future generations.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Damion Dixon

Damion Dixon is an independent journalist and community organizer in Washington D.C. focused on the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia area as well as global affairs.