Mayor Muriel Bowser indicated the proposed renaming of Black Lives Matter Plaza is a nonstarter. U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde introduced a bill calling for the renaming on March 3.
In its current form, the plaza is located on 16th Street NW in downtown Washington, D.C. Bowser commented on X about Clyde’s proposal. Bowser, the second Black woman to serve as D.C.’s mayor, dismissed the suggestion, noting the impact of the plaza’s creation. While acknowledging the importance of the area, Mayor Bowser also discussed a new vision for the space. The Black Lives Matter mural will be removed and replaced with art created by D.C. school children.
“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,” Bowser wrote.
Rep. Clyde, who represents Georgia’s 9th Congressional District, is pushing to rename the area “Liberty Plaza.” The congressman introduced H.R. 1774 on March 3, stating that denying the proposed change would result in withholding “apportionment funds.”
The bill reads:
“To amend title 23, United States Code, to withhold certain apportionment funds from the District of Columbia unless the Mayor of the District of Columbia removes the phrase Black Lives Matter from the street symbolically designated as Black Lives Matter Plaza, redesignates such street as Liberty Plaza, and removes such phrase from each website, document, and other material under the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia.”
Clyde spoke about the proposal in an interview with the Daily Caller.
“You have a street that is blocked off. It should not be blocked off,” he said. “You have businesses that are negatively affected by it, and they shouldn’t be negatively affected by it.”
He also argued that “the Black Lives Matter movement in and of itself should be All Lives Matter” and called the project “an incredible waste of money.”
Clyde’s 9th Congressional District in Georgia has a population of about 810,000. It is unclear why he is focused on the status of a D.C. landmark. His district falls below the national average for education, with 86.1% of residents holding at least a high school diploma, according to Census Reporter. Additionally, 11% of the district’s population lives below the poverty line, and 33% of residents earn less than $38,000 annually.
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