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“Black Lives Matter” painted across Washington Street between Eustis Street and Palmer Street. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The city council in Missouri’s largest city has endorsed the idea of painting Black Lives Matter murals on six streets across the city.
Kansas City Council members voted 12-1 Thursday in favor of a resolution saying the city “recognizes the importance and significance of the Black Lives Matter movement and desires to commemorate the message through painting street murals,” the Kansas City Star reported.
Councilman Eric Bunch said he strongly supported the “symbolic step” while acknowledging that “no amount of paint on the streets, murals on the street … are going to create systemic change.”
Other cities have seen murals on streets to support racial justice in the months since George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. Similar murals have been painted on streets in New York, Washington and Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The lone vote against the Kansas City proposal came from Councilwoman Heather Hall. She told the Star that a Black Lives Matter mural would have a “complete valid reason to be in Kansas City” but she thought any mural should be painted on a wall or billboard.
Hall cited public safety concerns, worrying that drivers could get confused about boundaries between lanes of traffic because of a street mural.
“As soon as somebody crosses that line and they hit another car, then who is at fault?” Hall said.