The bill would address only municipal property and not federal monuments.
By Fenit Nirappil Fenit Nirappil Reporter covering D.C. government and politics Email Bio Follow April 2 at 1:33 PM A D.C. lawmaker wants to form a government commission to conduct a sweeping review of symbols, markers and street names across the city that could be considered offensive.
Last year, the city changed the name of Orr Elementary in Southeast, which honored Benjamin G. Orr, a slave owner who served as mayor from 1817 to 1819, to Lawrence E. Boone Elementary in honor of the school’s African American principal for more than two decades. Maury Elementary in Northeast was named after John Maury, a D.C. mayor from 1852 to 1854 who also owned slaves.
Students stand outside Woodrow Wilson High School in 2017. But many D.C. government properties were named in modern times and after African American leaders. The city hall building is named after former D.C. Council chairman John A. Wilson, for example, and the Frank D. Reeves Municipal Center honors a former civil rights activist. A statue of the late “Mayor for Life” Marion Barry was installed in front of the Wilson building on Pennsylvania Avenue last year.
The commission proposed by McDuffie would have as many of 17 people, a mix of government officials and representatives from all eight wards of the city. It would be asked to conduct a 90-day review that includes public forums and surveys before submitting recommendations to Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and the 13-member council.
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