I am not one who gets verklempt at “patriotic” landmarks. I have a lot of issues with the history of this country, and I am not very quick to accept the argument that says, “Well, you have to understand the times.” That being said, there are two monuments that I find moving. One is The Lincoln Memorial. The other is the Statue of Liberty.
The Statue of Liberty was designed by Frederic
Bartholdi and built by Gustav Eiffel. It was designed in the late 1860’s as
a tribute by the French to the Union winning the Civil War and the approaching
centennial of the founding of the United States.
http://aspiringwriter.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Statue-Of-Liberty-Arm-1876-Phildadelphis-Cenetennial-Exposition.jpg via wikipedia commons |
My feelings about the statue in the bay are not blind patriotism. they have a lot more to do with what that statue meant to
immigrants coming here for so many years. I can only imagine what my
grandparents thought when they entered the harbor and saw her. Having grown up
under the thumb of various European royalties with largely anti-Semitic
leanings, coming to the United States must have seemed like a breath of fresh
air. The reality they faced was something different. They came here and had to
fight to actually have any of the liberties that we take for granted today. My grandparents came here as workers. They were
part of the struggle to provide better lives for themselves and their children.
http://www.sedonaobserver.com/images/immigration.jpg |
My grandparents were part of that poor immigrant population
that has always come to the United States to find a better life. Then, as today
immigrants faced racism, and a country that denigrated them, the work they did
and the lives they led. There is a lot of nostalgia about how great things
were. But the reality was very different. One of my grandmothers came here at
age 14. Her brothers lied about her age, saying that she was 16, so that she
could work in a sweat shop. This was done because they could not afford to keep
her without her contribution. This situation still is true today. Many of my
students, all recent immigrants to the United States, were going to high school
full time and working 20, 30 sometimes 40 hours/week to help their families pay
the bills, or just pay their own way.
By Unknown or not provided (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
My grandparents and my parents spent their lives fighting to
improve their lives and the lives of others. They were organizers, of garment
workers, of teachers, of parents. They fought for the 8 hour day, for civil
rights, for worker’s rights. They fought against racism and for a system that
would truly provide a decent life for everyone. They fought for what immigrants
believed the Statue of Liberty promised. A view of society that the
United States has never really lived up to.
To me, the statue represents is an ideal, not a promise. Thomas
Jefferson said “The only freedoms you have are the ones you are willing to
fight and die for.” This was certainly true for the poor and working class in
this country. It is even more true today. Those rights and “freedoms” that
workers won are under attack. Union membership is falling. Racists feel
empowered to be more vocal than at any time during the past 40 years.
Immigrants are vilified and attack for their language, religion or the color of
their skin
.
So I present The Statue of Liberty today to say that we need
to be ready fight as our grandparents and parents did, because this country is
heading towards a very dark time. And of the two candidates who are most likely
to become the next president, one believes that the status quo is basically
okay, and the other is a fascist.
I never connected our current times (although I agree they are gloomy and ominous) to the early 1900s. An interesting connection worth pondering. How proud you should be to come from such activist roots.
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