In place of words painted on the street, organizers are calling for immediate policy changes.
Since George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in late May, Black Lives Matter activists have taken to the streets demanding radical changes to police departments and other parts of government. So far, the political class is offering little more than words painted on streets.
That, at least, is the emerging sentiment toward the Black Lives Matters street murals popping up in cities around the country. These efforts, meant to represent a commitment to social justice in local communities, have received praise from community members and some public figures. But they’ve also garnered criticism from activists who are pushing their mayors and governors to move past symbolism and institute immediate policy changes.
Rather than ordering the words painted on streets, activists argue, lawmakers should take action to protect Black lives in real time — by enacting the policies that Black organizers have been calling for since before the Floyd protests began. So far, few of those in power are getting the message.
“It’s not enough. What we’re asking for is not, like, a symbolic recognition of how Black lives matter,” said Delilah Pierre, an organizer with the Tallahassee Community Action Committee. The Florida state capital is one of the latest cities to paint the now-familiar yellow-and-black mural across a major intersection. “We’re asking for that to be something that’s in practice. We’re asking for real systemic change to the system that oppresses and marginalizes black people.”
The Black Lives Matter street art, meanwhile, originated more as a way to troll President Donald Trump, who has called Black Lives Matter a “hate group.”
Washington, D. C. Mayor Muriel Bowser commissioned the first BLM mural in early June, in response to Trump’s militarization of the city’s downtown and use of chemicals to clear protesters in front of the White House. She re-named the intersection across from the White House Black Lives Matter plaza and had the words painted across the asphalt in bold yellow lettering.
