What's interesting in your assessment is that very argument was used by the artistic community in Helena, Montana concerning a fountain commissioned by the Daughter's of the Confederacy.  This fountain was one of three monuments constructed by Confederate sympathizers west of the Mississippi...excluding Texas. It was taken down today because the majority in my little city finally realized that the money their ancestors gave to these women to fund that fountain also went to support the KKK.  It's a shame on one hand because it was the only public fountain in town, but on the other hand, Montana has it's own legacy of racism in targeting Native Americans.  So, in the end we said 'no' to racism of any kind being memorialized in our public parks.  Personally, I wish the city had redesignated it, but that might still happen some day down the road when they bring the fountain out of storage, as it wasn't destroyed.