US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ordered the removal from the US Capitol of four portraits of former lawmakers who served in the Confederacy, saying their images symbolise "grotesque racism".
Ms Pelosi has asked the US House clerk to conduct the "immediate removal" of the paintings tomorrow when Americans observe Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
"There is no room in the hallowed halls of Congress or in any place of honour for memorialising men who embody the violent bigotry and grotesque racism of the Confederacy," the top Democrat wrote to the clerk, Cheryl Johnson.
Ms Pelosi said she made the request to coincide with Juneteenth, given the "moment of extraordinary national anguish, as we grieve for the hundreds of Black Americans killed by racial injustice and police brutality".
Protests swept the nation following the 25 May killing of African-American George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
Ms Pelosi has also sought removal of 11 Confederate statues from the Capitol, including that of Confederacy president Jefferson Davis.
A bipartisan committee is reviewing the statue request.
The four outgoing portraits depict 19th century speakers of the House who also served in the Confederacy: Robert Hunter of Virginia, Howell Cobb of Georgia, James Orr of South Carolina, and Charles Crisp of Georgia.
