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People are melting down over this statue of a Black woman in Times Square

“Death of civilization.”

Photo of Nina Hernandez

Nina Hernandez

2 panel image of the Thomas J. Price statue of a black woman in Tiimes Square and people around it.
@HowardWeiss/TikTok (Licensed)

Why is a 12-foot statue of a Black woman in Times Square angering people on the internet? You get three guesses…

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Thomas J Price is a London-based sculptor who is known for both stop-motion animation and contemporary bronze sculptures. One of his latest works is Grounded in the Stars, a 12-foot figurative bronze sculpture of a Black woman that is currently on display at Broadway and 46th Street in New York City.

The installation started on April 29 and will last until the middle of June.

Price aimed to disrupt the traditional ideas around who should be the subject of sculpture by depicting a young woman in everyday clothing in a stance reminiscent of Michelangelo’s David.

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Of course, leave it to social media to take an uplifting message and drag it through the mud. 

The art work is the subject of vile rants on X, with some even calling it a sign of the “death of civilization.”

And it’s not just on X. The hateful commentary is on Instagram, too, with one white influencer asking sarcastically why the woman deserved recognition.

And it’s not just on social media.

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A Fox News columnist wrote an article blasting the statue as evidence of liberal hypocrisy and a sign that race relations in the United States are degrading. On that point, at least, few people would disagree.

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