Trump Forces DC to Destroy BLM Plaza

Malik Miah

Posted March 14, 2025

CONSTRUCTION CREWS SWOOPED in and began destroying Black Lives Matter Plaza Street mural in Washington, D.C. on March 10. The target, near the White House, was more than a powerful symbol and its wide support by the African American community.

Dismantling BLM Plaza was a brazen blow to Black equality and justice. The far right celebrated the racist act online, with conservative provocateur Charlie Kirk visiting the site to hail “the end of this mass race hysteria in our country.”

President Trump is seen by a majority of Black people as a racist dating back to his real estate days in New York City. His family refused to rent to African Americans and was sued by the federal government.

In his first term as president, Trump openly blasted protests organized against police violence and criminality after George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis cops in 2020. The killing led to one of the biggest popular antiracist upsurges since the 1960s civil rights movement.

Trump encouraged the police forces to attack peaceful protesters and even sought to use the military at a Washington, DC march. But his military commander pushed back.

Trump 2.0 has none of the guide rails of his first term. He has appointed loyalists, including the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, who agree on wrecking the institutions of the government. At least until his chaotic tariff wars, most of the ruling class backs Trump’s policies.

From day one he’s attacked DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) policies and barred even the use of those words or concepts in government language. The Department of Defense is even taking out the word “women” that is seen as implying inclusion.

Trump Racism and Blackmail

It came as no surprise to anyone on March 10 that a Black Lives Matter Plaza, first created in 2020, would be destroyed. Trump and Congressional Republicans had told the DC mayor and city officials, who do not control all its funding as it comes from Congress, that he would deny the city millions of dollars if it did not do so.

The city leaders did so while denouncing Trump’s and Congress’ blackmail.

For Black people it was further proof of Trump’s racism, and another example of their long history of betrayal and being treated as second class citizens.
Here are excerpts from the March 10 USA Today:

“Most of the people who stopped to watch the work told USA TODAY they were sad to see the installation go. Sitting on a nearby bench, Karen Long, a former D.C. resident who moved back to neighboring Arlington, Virginia, two years ago, described the construction scene as ‘somber.’

“‘Black lives,’ she said, ‘would matter regardless of yellow paint on the ground. There was a movement, and there’s still going to be a movement,’ she said. ‘This is not the end of it.’“

African Americans and other minorities facing discrimination have fought a lengthy battle against institutional racism and the ideology of white privilege. In the not-so-distant past, the supremacist ideology led to lynchings and Black communities burned to the ground.

Resistance as seen in the 2020 protests, and symbols like the Black Lives Matter Plaza mural, will rise again.