The New Colossus[1] was written in capital letters and memorialized in 1903 with a bronze plaque placed on the inner walls of the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal. It is currently displayed for all to see in the Statue of Liberty Museum. Emma Lazarus wrote these words in 1883. It reads:
“NOT LIKE THE GREEK GIANT, WITH CONQUERING LIMBS ASTRIDE FROM LAND TO LAND; HERE AT OUR SEA-WASHED, SUNSET GATES SHALL STAND A MIGHTY WOMAN WITH A TORCH, WHOSE FLAME IS THE IMPRISONED LIGHTENING, AND HER NAME MOTHER OF EXILES. FROM HER BEACONED-HAND GLOWS WORLD-WIDE WELCOME: HER MILD EYES COMMAND THE AIR-BRIDGED HARBOR THAT TWIN CITIES FAMED. ‘KEEP ANCIENT LANDS, YOUR STORIES POMP!’ CRIES SHE WITH SILENT LIPS. ‘GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR, YOUR HUDDLED MASSES YEARNING TO BREATHE FREE. THE WRETCHED REFUSE OF YOUR TEEMING SHORE. SEND THESE, THE HOMELESS, THE TEMPEST-TOSED TO ME. I LIFT MY LAMP BESIDE THE GOLDEN DOOR!’”
The New Colossus is the universal message and hope for freedom for immigrants coming to America and people seeking freedom around the world. The principle of The New Colossus still stands today in the democratic republic of the United States of America. Many Americans need to be reminded of this important fact in the USA, whose borders are not meant to be closed to anyone, not from Canada, not from South or Central America, nor any country in the world in need of the best that humanity can offer.
It is one thing to stand up for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is quite another thing to support prejudice and brutality in the ignorant wave of thinking age, gender, ability, disability, and all other variations of human rights can only be authorized and validated by those who have bought their way to the top, and by closing borders based on fear and prejudice.
This is not a political side to believe or not believe. This is the foundation of the United States of America, because as the name of this nation states, we are one UNITED States of America, working together for the common good of all. The UNITED States of America is not up for a land grab, a subversion of drug, gun, or human trafficking hostile takeover up for the highest bidder.
Each one of us stands with the States of Liberty, unlike those “BRAZEN GIANTS OF GREEK FAME,” because we are made of human hearts that remember when our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents came to the United States of American, not having to wait fifteen years to become citizens. If they could not sign their name, they simply signed an “X.” This is the ideal all Americans stand for, or at least we should.
Either we are America and all it stands for, or we are not. You need to pick a side, otherwise we are back to George Orwell’s concept of ‘Double Think,’ holding two opposite views claiming they are both the same when they are not.
[1] Statue of Liberty Inscription | New Colossus, Give me Your Tired (nycinsiderguide.com)