<p>Reclusive British street artist Banksy published a new artwork online on Saturday which depicts the United States flag being set alight by a candle that forms part of a memorial to an anonymous, black, silhouetted figure.</p>.<p>The artwork appeared as thousands of people gathered in London and other cities around the world to protest the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, where a white police officer detaining him knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.</p>.<p>"People of colour are being failed by the system. The white system," Banksy wrote in a short statement that accompanied the image on the social media platform Instagram.</p>.<p>Banksy likened racism to a broken pipe flooding a downstairs apartment, and said the downstairs occupants would be entitled to break into the apartment upstairs to fix the problem.</p>.<p>"This is a white problem. And if white people don't fix it, someone will have to come upstairs and kick the door in," Banksy wrote alongside the image.</p>.<p>Banksy frequently chooses topical themes for his artworks, which are normally stencilled on walls.</p>.<p>Last month, he showed a young boy choosing a nurse as the superhero he wants to play with over Batman and Spiderman, in a new artwork to encapsulate the gratitude Britons have felt toward the country's National Health Service during the coronavirus crisis.</p>
<p>Reclusive British street artist Banksy published a new artwork online on Saturday which depicts the United States flag being set alight by a candle that forms part of a memorial to an anonymous, black, silhouetted figure.</p>.<p>The artwork appeared as thousands of people gathered in London and other cities around the world to protest the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, where a white police officer detaining him knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.</p>.<p>"People of colour are being failed by the system. The white system," Banksy wrote in a short statement that accompanied the image on the social media platform Instagram.</p>.<p>Banksy likened racism to a broken pipe flooding a downstairs apartment, and said the downstairs occupants would be entitled to break into the apartment upstairs to fix the problem.</p>.<p>"This is a white problem. And if white people don't fix it, someone will have to come upstairs and kick the door in," Banksy wrote alongside the image.</p>.<p>Banksy frequently chooses topical themes for his artworks, which are normally stencilled on walls.</p>.<p>Last month, he showed a young boy choosing a nurse as the superhero he wants to play with over Batman and Spiderman, in a new artwork to encapsulate the gratitude Britons have felt toward the country's National Health Service during the coronavirus crisis.</p>