Inapproriate interior design choices

I was looking through an interior design magazine and came across a picture of a dining room with what looked like a statue of a black slave holding a serving tray and I couldn’t help but think there was something completely inappropriate about it.

Then again, if the statue hadn’t been black I might not have thought it was inappropriate. But it was such an unusual thing to see.

Then again I have never stepped foot inside the dining room of a rich person’s home so I don’t know if the rich commonly prop statues holding serving trays in their dining rooms and if it’s common for the statues to be dressed like slaves, have African features and be painted gleaming black. Maybe it’s just the thing to have as part of your dining room interior desing. Anything is possible; but the statue in question was such a prominent piece you couldn’t help but notice it and you’re inclined to think that’s the whole idea behind it, for it to be noticed.

And if that’s the whole idea, for the statue to be noticed, then you have to conclude there was a conscious choice behind selecting that particular statue and a certain mindset that prompted someone to buy it. Am I just reading too much into it? I was just so stunned by the representation; but I could just be wanting to be overly politically correct.

Update June 19th

I have learned that the name of the designer who worked on the interior of the dining room where the statue is used is Daniel Clancy of the design firm Perlmutter-Freiwald so I’m trying to see if there’s any way to reach him to ask about the statue. I’m just really really curious to understand how the designer or the owners of the home don’t think the statue is objectionable. I’ve seen other pictures of Dan Clancy’s work and he’s obviously highly talented. From what I’ve read he’s an acclaimed interior decorator; but does that make it okay to be tactless?