The New Colossus:
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
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 lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied 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, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
-Emma Lazarus
Most people may be familiar with at least a part of this poem.....Yes, I know...it's a sonnet...but let's not get technical. For many of us, it was required reading in elementary school when learning about civic and American history. It's a text heavy with meaning for us as a nation. While on the surface it gives person hood and meaning to the Statue of Liberty, it also serves as a call to the outcasts and disenfranchised of all nations that America would accept and be a safe home to all who embraced her. In addition, this passage... just as Lady Liberty herself...became personifications of the meaning of our founding fathers when they authored the words..."We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
How sad then to see that only a few generations is all it takes to forget this important part of what it means to be American. We were meant to be a land of opportunity and a safe haven for others and yet hatred, bigotry, and ignorance have again gained favor as the path of the patriot. Often practiced by those who wish to claim a moral and patriotic high ground.
Today I came across a video that has turned my stomach and made me truly sad. In a YouTube video I positioned after the jump, you will see a group a people holding a charity benefit in support of women's shelters and the homeless in Orange County, California. The event was protested by local tea party conservative groups and a handful of elected officials who's behavior included inciting violence and the murder of the charity events attendees. Watch the video and then see if you can tell me just what the hell is going on with our country?!
