“Poor and Huddled Masses”
July 4 and Group of 8
“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 worldwide-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, Sonnet to the Bartholdi Statue of Liberty
This past Independence Day Weekend, Live 8 rocked the world, to draw attention to the plight of the world’s “poor and huddled masses,” and to put pressure on the Group of 8 to make the crucial decisions necessary to help alleviate that plight. Currently, some 30,000 children die each day around the world due to starvation or disease.
For many of the “poor and huddled masses” around the world, their Dream, their way out of poverty, is to come to America, to share in our Dream. Increasingly, however, we make that simple ambition more of a Nightmare.
Perhaps we should spend a moment thinking about how we might renew our faith in Liberty’s invitation, and ensure that our welcome to coming generations of “poor and huddled” immigrants is open, generous and completely unqualified.
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Geoffrey Gilson is an author from England living in the United States. His book, "Dead Men Don't Eat Lunch," describes his involuntary entanglement in the hidden and dangerous world of covert intelligence ops, illegal arms deals, and high-level political corruption.
