Wiley’s creates a piece of work that addresses the issue in America of monuments. Around America there are many statues of dead civil war heroes in public places for everybody to see. Most of these people being glorified used to own slaves. Our society’s values have changed since those times, therefore, Wiley confronts the idea that these old monuments should remain up as he believes it is not what their city represents.
Looking at the statue itself, it consists of a black sitter on top of a horse. Black sitters have rarely ever been subject to power in monuments such as these in the past, so by choosing a black subject and placing him on top of this massive horse with a strong and confident posture, it empowers the black community which typically are underrepresented in monuments. Wiley proves that monuments with black sitters can be as beautiful as any other monuments. Furthermore, the statue itself is massive and requires the viewer to literally look up at it. By making it so grand, Wiley is making the statement this monument and this sitter is powerful, which collides with the traditional views of black people being undervalued ultimately representing an unequal America.
