武器も持たない無抵抗の黒人男性に対する警察官による拘束中の殺人に対して全米・全世界が抗議している。人種差別と警察の暴力に抗議する平和的デモは収まる気配がなく、"Justice for George Floyd"（「ジョージフロイドに公平な扱いを」）というシュプレヒコールが全米に鳴り響いている。
"Justice for George Floyd"とともに広がっているスローガンが"Black Lives Matter"だ。「黒人の命も同じ人の命」というニュアンスのあるこのスローガンが、首都ワシントンの道路に黄色いペンキで描かれた。
アメリカ合州国では、偉人にちなんで命名される通りも少なくないが、その通りは誰のストリートなのかという意味で、このホワイトハウスの間近の通りは"Black Lives Matter Plz NW.”と命名された。
トランプ大統領が首都ワシントンのこれらを許可した民主党黒人女性市長を非難していることは言うまでもないが、市に対しては市の警察予算を削減すべきという市民の批判もあるようだ。
以下、Washington Post（June 6, 2020 at 7:51 a.m. GMT+9）から。
By Fenit Nirappil, Julie Zauzmer and Rachel Chason
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser renamed a street in front of the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza” and had the slogan painted on the asphalt in massive yellow letters, a pointed salvo in her escalating dispute with President Trump over control of D.C. streets.
City officials said the actions Friday were meant to honor demonstrators who are urging changes in law enforcement practices after the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in the custody of Minneapolis police.
“There was a dispute this week about whose street it is, and Mayor Bowser wanted to make it abundantly clear whose street it is and honor the peaceful demonstrators who assembled Monday night,” said John Falcicchio, the mayor’s chief of staff.For days, Bowser (D) has strongly objected to the escalation of federal law enforcement and the military response to protests and unrest in the nation’s capital.
Trump has urged a crackdown on demonstrators, outraged by sporadic cases of looting during protests in Washington and some other cities. He and Attorney General William P. Barr marshaled a huge influx of federal police and National Guard units to the capital against Bowser’s wishes.
On Friday, city workers included a D.C. flag at the end of the display in front of St. John’s Church, close to where federal law enforcement forcefully cleared the area of largely peaceful protesters Monday night just before Trump walked over and posed for news cameras, a Bible in his hand.
The art takes up two blocks on 16th Street NW, between K and H streets, an iconic promenade directly north of the White House. Local artist Rose Jaffe said she and others joined city work crews to paint the giant slogan, starting before dawn.
Shortly after 11 a.m., Bowser watched silently as a city worker hung a sign at the corner of 16th and H streets that said “Black Lives Matter Plz NW.”Onlookers cheered, and the song “Rise Up” by Andra Day played from speakers.
“In America, you can peacefully assemble,” Bowser said in brief remarks to the crowd.
Bah-Pna Dahane, 45, said he was finishing up a run near the White House on Friday morning when he saw the street-painting effort and decided to pitch in. He said he had been a victim of brutal police tactics in New York and knows that change will not happen if people don’t act.“I said: ‘You know what? Let’s do it. Let’s make it happen,’ ” he said as he painted.
The group Black Lives Matter DC reacted to the street painting with criticism of the mayor, saying she should decrease the budget for the D.C. police and “invest in the community.”
Bowser’s proposed budget increases funding for traditional policing while cutting spending on programs to reduce violence through community-based intervention initiatives.“This is a performative distraction from real policy changes,” the group said on Twitter, adding, “Black Lives Matter means defund the police.”
(omitting the rest)
以下、朝日新聞デジタル版(6月6日10時48分)から。
「米ホワイトハウス前の通り、「黒人の命も大切」と命名」
ワシントン=渡辺丘
米国の首都ワシントンのバウザー市長は5日、ホワイトハウス前の通りの一部を「ブラック・ライブズ・マター（黒人の命も大切）プラザ」と名付けた。白人警官が黒人男性を死なせた事件への抗議デモに連帯を示すためとして、道路に巨大な黄色の文字で「黒人の命も大切」とペイントし、標識も設置した。
バウザー市長は野党・民主党の黒人女性で、トランプ大統領が1日、ホワイトハウス近くの教会で記念撮影を行う前に平和的な抗議集会を強制排除したことを批判。ワシントンに派遣された州兵の撤兵も求めるなど、トランプ氏との対立が深まっている。通りは教会の近くにあり、5日も抗議デモが行われた。
トランプ氏は同日、「ひどく無能な市長」などとツイッターに投稿し、激しく反発した。6日にワシントンで行われる抗議デモは、これまでで最大規模になることも予想されている。