- 16 May 2007 16:51
#1207760
News falsh for Alchemy.
I don't know where you get Wikipedia. You must be talking about someone else.
As to questioning our government sources. Of course we do. That is what you do in a democracy. You ought to come here and try it.
Here is what you said that I take exception to:
Why is it sad? You misunderstand anyway. In 1903 this plaque was attached to the statue.
What does that sound like to you. The first thing the 12 million immigrants who came through Ellis Island saw of New York Harbor was the Statue of Liberty. The significance of this is not for you or I to decide. It is for them to decide. And the Statue of Liberty has come for them and for the rest of us to represent the opportunity this country offers. An opportunity that keeps people trying to come here from all over the world to this day.
Symbols are like that. The EIffle tower was priginally built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. I suspect few people around the world know it as anything other than the symbol of Paris. The Parthenon is a 5th Century BC temple to Athena but I suspect most people don't think of it that way. Big Ben...
The point is that I believe you should look to your own motives for wanting to right this thing you find wrong. Iconoclasm is not always a good idea, kind or even intellectually honest. I am assuming you do not live in the US. It is time for the rest of the world to stop defining the US by the former institution of slavery. It is over now. Has been for over 130 years. It was an issue in part of this country and we fought a bloody war to fix it. Try going back 130 years in your own country and see where things stood. Lets see. Countries defined by the state of affairs 130 years ago.....Russia with a virtual slave class of serfs. Fair to define them by that today? Not in my book. If you want to get upset about slavery there are plenty of opportunities for you to find slavery in the world today. It is rampant in Africa and in southeast Asia, Human trafficing is a world problem.
The Statue of Liberty is our symbol. We will define it as we like. Every person who views it will have their own thoughts about it. If I had been on a boat fleeing the pograms of Europe knowing that all of that fear and persecution was about to end, the Statue of Liberty would mean a great deal to me. And your opinion on the matter wouldn't matter at all. And frankly neither would the opinions of Bartholdi or some park service hack.
I don't know where you get Wikipedia. You must be talking about someone else.
As to questioning our government sources. Of course we do. That is what you do in a democracy. You ought to come here and try it.
Here is what you said that I take exception to:
The fact that people see her as a symbol to welcome immigrants is rather sad.
Why is it sad? You misunderstand anyway. In 1903 this plaque was attached to the statue.
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!"
What does that sound like to you. The first thing the 12 million immigrants who came through Ellis Island saw of New York Harbor was the Statue of Liberty. The significance of this is not for you or I to decide. It is for them to decide. And the Statue of Liberty has come for them and for the rest of us to represent the opportunity this country offers. An opportunity that keeps people trying to come here from all over the world to this day.
Symbols are like that. The EIffle tower was priginally built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. I suspect few people around the world know it as anything other than the symbol of Paris. The Parthenon is a 5th Century BC temple to Athena but I suspect most people don't think of it that way. Big Ben...
The point is that I believe you should look to your own motives for wanting to right this thing you find wrong. Iconoclasm is not always a good idea, kind or even intellectually honest. I am assuming you do not live in the US. It is time for the rest of the world to stop defining the US by the former institution of slavery. It is over now. Has been for over 130 years. It was an issue in part of this country and we fought a bloody war to fix it. Try going back 130 years in your own country and see where things stood. Lets see. Countries defined by the state of affairs 130 years ago.....Russia with a virtual slave class of serfs. Fair to define them by that today? Not in my book. If you want to get upset about slavery there are plenty of opportunities for you to find slavery in the world today. It is rampant in Africa and in southeast Asia, Human trafficing is a world problem.
The Statue of Liberty is our symbol. We will define it as we like. Every person who views it will have their own thoughts about it. If I had been on a boat fleeing the pograms of Europe knowing that all of that fear and persecution was about to end, the Statue of Liberty would mean a great deal to me. And your opinion on the matter wouldn't matter at all. And frankly neither would the opinions of Bartholdi or some park service hack.