A library that covered up a drawing of a black female slave having sex with a white man after workers found it inappropriate has put it on display again.

The drawing, created by black artist Kara Walker, shows the horrors many blacks faced after the Civil War and during reconstruction and includes a depiction of a slave performing oral sex. It also depicts hooded Ku Klux Klan members standing around a burning cross.

It initially was hung during Thanksgiving in the Newark Public Library’s second-floor reference room, but officials reluctantly covered it with a cloth after one day because some workers complained it was insensitive.

Controversial: The drawing shows the horrors many blacks faced after the Civil War and during reconstruction and includes a depiction of a slave performing oral sex

Library officials and staffers have since met to discuss the drawing and decided it could be uncovered.

Library employee Kendell Willis told the Star-Ledger that he had a better understanding of the library officials’ position after the meeting.

‘They said there are a lot of things in artwork we don’t want to talk about, and that made absolute sense,’ he said.

Library officials plan to invite Walker to speak about the drawing, artistic freedom and the role of black artists in society.

Taking a stand: Library officials discussed the painting which had upset some and decided it could be put on display again

Freedom of expression: Artist Kara Walker was invited to the library to discuss her work

‘The library should be a safe harbor for controversies of all types, and those controversies can be dealt with in the context of what is known about art, about literature, democracy and freedom,’ library trustee Clement A. Price, a Rutgers university history professor said.

‘There’s no better venue in Newark where such a powerful and potential controversial drawing should be mounted.’

Price noted that the portrayal of the black American experience is a sensitive issue.

‘Should we be depicted sentimentally, romantically?’ he said. ‘Should some of the grotesque realities be depicted in art or movies?’