They are beautiful and aspirational, and, most notably, not powerful actual people in the world.

According to Monument Lab, a public art and history nonprofit group, there are 11 times more monuments to mermaids than congresswomen in the United States.

The history of representing Black men in the United States is equally disturbing.

Figures of them are all too rare, and when they do appear, they are generic soldiers or, more often, barechested and kneeling, nameless or enslaved.

The artistic choice to depict Martin Luther King Jr. without a face, without an intact body, without the dignity of a straight back, runs the risk of robbing him of the power he risked to carve out nonviolent protests in a racially hostile country.

An artist of Thomas’ caliber and experience knows he is taking those risks, and does so intentionally.

Some of the most beloved public art has been met with calls for a wrecking ball.

Lots of folks, for example, were very upset when the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was unveiled in 1982. One critic called the monument a “black gash of shame.”

“It is an unfortunate choice of memorial,” the New Republic wrote at the time. “Memorials are built to give context and, possibly, meaning to suffering that is otherwise incomprehensible. … To treat the Vietnam dead like the victims of some monstrous traffic accident is more than a disservice to history; it is a disservice to the memory of the 57,000.”

Designed by Maya Lin, the memorial has now become one of the most cherished pieces of public art in the U.S.

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