I remember the grey sweatshirt and white t-shirt I bought at a mall. I did not purchase those items at one of the stores, but at a booth set up in the mall. The items, along with others, were sold to raise money for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty in celebration of her centennial in 1986. I was proud to contribute and proud to wear the shirts with the Statue of Liberty. I taped the celebration of the unveiling of the Statue and relighting of her torch. I still have that tape. I also bought a video tape documentary about the Statue and watched others on television, taping a couple, all of which I still have. Several years later during a visit to a local outdoor shopping place, I saw a towel with the Statue of Liberty and the American Flag flowing from her torch. My sister gifted me with the towel which is hanging on a wall in my living room.
The Statue of Liberty, gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, symbol of hope and liberty to those seeking freedom from oppression. Stories are told and written of immigrants shedding tears of joy at seeing the Statue after a long journey on the sea. Even those who never passed by the Lady in the harbor still know that she represents the chance for a life of opportunity. She stands as a welcome, not to the rich and famous, but to the poor and desperate:
We have been and continue to be engaged in a great debate, a great battle, over what to do about the immigrants who did not take the necessary steps to get permission to enter this country. How to find them and send them back to their own countries. Arizona attempted what can only be described as legalized racial profiling to stop and arrest anyone who cannot prove the right, whether by birth or paperwork, to live in this country. Presidential candidates not only speak out against immigration reform, but make dispariging remarks about those who have come to this country in search of a better life.
How easily we forget that not only are we a nation of immigrants, but the first settlers were also illegal immigrants. They may have had permission from their governments, in the form of royal charters, but their governments neither owned nor had any legal authority to colonize or allow to be colonized any land in North and/or South America. How easily we forget that our own immigrant ancestors faced discrimination and prejudice and difficulty. The 1850s saw the rise of the anti-immigrant “Know Nothing Party” of which Abraham Lincoln said:
The Irish Catholics in the United States found getting employment very difficult when many places had signs which said: Irish or catholic need not apply. They struggled to gain acceptance. One argument put forth now is that all the others came here legally. Well, not entirely or necessarily true. My own maternal grandmother may well have falsified her age in order to come to this country from Ireland, thus making her an illegal immigrant. Another argument is that the undocumented immigrants are taking away jobs from American citizens. Again, not necessarily true. The undocumented often are doing the work that others do not want to do.
How sad that the Lady in the harbor, once a symbol to the world that here in the United States all are welcome, is now just an old statue whose meaning is fading. In one of the documentaries about the Statue, an immigrant said he did not think those born in the United States could ever really understand what seeing her for the first time meant to those who lived in countries where freedom and opportunity were not just illusive but often illusions. People are not risking their lives for a government handout. They risk their lives because where they are and how they live is unbearable for them and their families.
Now in 2015, let her undergo a new restoration. Let us stand together with the Lady in the harbor to remind the world, our own federal, state and local governments as well as those citizens who wish to pursue anti-immigration laws that the torch is still lit. That we, the descendants of immigrants, will not let the flame be exstinguished, but rather will help it burn stronger and brighter and the Statue of Liberty still welcomes all to our country.
Moderately liberal, liberally moderate, American flag waving Democrat! Bachelor of Arts in History with concentration in Early American History and Abraham Lincoln
Graduate student pursuing a Master of Arts Degree online in American History at Southern New Hampshire University