Fred Wilson's proposed project for the Indianapolis, IN Soldiers and Sailors Monument has been officially  dropped.

Wilson had scanned the recently freed slave in the monument and was going to recast the downtrodden slave (reaching up for help from lady liberty) in an upright position holding a flag of African nations. This repurposing and tweaking is critiquing old representations of the African Americans as helpless passive observers in their own freedom, and representation that is completely untrue. Wilson's new monument would have created a new image of a powerful figure of African American pride.

The work confronts public monuments' tendency to outlast their relevancy or cultural paradigm.  Like statues to dictators (below). Unfortunately, this monument is left with racist imagery, and will not be given a contemporary update.

photo by Jerome Delay

definitely read more here and at MAN

also, if you are interested in the tendency for monuments to outlast their relevancy, watch this long but good lecture here and then here.