NEW YORK (AP) — An outdoor advertising company said Thursday it planned to take down an anti-abortion billboard in New York City that pictures a black girl along with the tagline, “The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the
womb.”
Hal Kilshaw, a spokesman for Louisiana-based Lamar Advertising, said the billboard was scheduled to be taken down Thursday night. Some residents had said they found it offensive and members of the black community were especially outraged by it.
Kilshaw said that while the company respects the right to freedom of expression, the decision to take down the billboard was for “public safety.” He said wait staff at a restaurant near the billboard had been harassed.
The Rev. Al Sharpton praised the decision and canceled plans to protest the billboard Friday. The civil rights activist said the billboard “depicted black women in an unfair way.”
The billboard was placed in the busy Soho neighborhood of Manhattan by the group Life Always as part of a national campaign tied to Black History Month. The group said its message highlights Planned Parenthood’s “targeting of minority neighborhoods.”