Liberty’s Birthday, p. 5
Dublin Core
Title
Liberty’s Birthday, p. 5
Description
“The Fourth of July Statue of Liberty centennial should be more than a media event buried under a mountain of hoopla, gliza, and commercialism.
Instead, it should be a time to reflect on the symbolic meaning of the Statue which holds aloft the flame of liberty, while at her feet are the broken chains of oppression.
Such considered reflection would lead us to think of the distance we have yet to travel to fulfill the Statue’s promise. Even as millions flock to celebrations in downtown New York and its harbor, many thousands in the City sleep in the streets and suffer hunger.
On the Statue’s base are the words of the poet, Emma Lazarus:
“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-tossed to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
In fact, many of those who came to our shores came involuntarily, could not breathe free, and were in bondage.
But symbols like the Statue of Liberty do not bear such close historical inspection. They derive their power from their intent and for their ability to personify people’s dreams and wishes. So the Statue’s symbolism remains strong, even as its bright promise has too often been unfulfilled.
And as America celebrates its immigrant heritage it must be reminded that many of the ancestors of its citizens came to these shores against their will, in slavery’s chains, to work the fields and build the roads that made America great. For them too, the Statue stands as a symbol of what America can be.
That some black citizens claim indifference to the Statue’s centennial should not be surprising. It is hard to expend energies in praise that need to be spent in struggle to change conditions that bring such hardship and inequality to so many black people, other minorities, and the disadvantaged.
But at the same time we too, are part of the tradition the centennial celebrates. As many as two million black people voluntarily came to the United States, emigrating from the West Indies, Canada, and Africa, in search of better lives.
The achievements of those black immigrants will be honored when Dr. Kenneth Clark becomes one of the first dozen immigrants to receive the Medal of Liberty.
Dr. Clark, the psychologist and civil rights theorist, has left a powerful imprint of America and has been responsible for helping to bring the nation a bit closer to the ideals expressed by the symbolism of the Statue.
We must refuse to code the symbol of liberty, freedom and equality to ideologies of the right, as happened some years back when they appropriated the flag.
The national anthem, the flag, and the Statue of Liberty are symbols of freedom that belong to all of us - rich and poor, white and black. And I don’t want to see them stolen by right wingers for their own purposes.
While it is easy to be cynical about the show-biz atmosphere and events surrounding the centennial, we should not fall into the trap of forgetting that the Statue is a symbol of liberty that symbolizes America and its problems to the entire world. As Americans striving to make our country better for all, it is our symbol, too.”
Instead, it should be a time to reflect on the symbolic meaning of the Statue which holds aloft the flame of liberty, while at her feet are the broken chains of oppression.
Such considered reflection would lead us to think of the distance we have yet to travel to fulfill the Statue’s promise. Even as millions flock to celebrations in downtown New York and its harbor, many thousands in the City sleep in the streets and suffer hunger.
On the Statue’s base are the words of the poet, Emma Lazarus:
“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-tossed to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
In fact, many of those who came to our shores came involuntarily, could not breathe free, and were in bondage.
But symbols like the Statue of Liberty do not bear such close historical inspection. They derive their power from their intent and for their ability to personify people’s dreams and wishes. So the Statue’s symbolism remains strong, even as its bright promise has too often been unfulfilled.
And as America celebrates its immigrant heritage it must be reminded that many of the ancestors of its citizens came to these shores against their will, in slavery’s chains, to work the fields and build the roads that made America great. For them too, the Statue stands as a symbol of what America can be.
That some black citizens claim indifference to the Statue’s centennial should not be surprising. It is hard to expend energies in praise that need to be spent in struggle to change conditions that bring such hardship and inequality to so many black people, other minorities, and the disadvantaged.
But at the same time we too, are part of the tradition the centennial celebrates. As many as two million black people voluntarily came to the United States, emigrating from the West Indies, Canada, and Africa, in search of better lives.
The achievements of those black immigrants will be honored when Dr. Kenneth Clark becomes one of the first dozen immigrants to receive the Medal of Liberty.
Dr. Clark, the psychologist and civil rights theorist, has left a powerful imprint of America and has been responsible for helping to bring the nation a bit closer to the ideals expressed by the symbolism of the Statue.
We must refuse to code the symbol of liberty, freedom and equality to ideologies of the right, as happened some years back when they appropriated the flag.
The national anthem, the flag, and the Statue of Liberty are symbols of freedom that belong to all of us - rich and poor, white and black. And I don’t want to see them stolen by right wingers for their own purposes.
While it is easy to be cynical about the show-biz atmosphere and events surrounding the centennial, we should not fall into the trap of forgetting that the Statue is a symbol of liberty that symbolizes America and its problems to the entire world. As Americans striving to make our country better for all, it is our symbol, too.”
Creator
John Jacob
Publisher
Baltimore African American
Date
1986-7-12
Collection
Citation
John Jacob, “Liberty’s Birthday, p. 5,” African American Fourth of July, accessed April 28, 2024, https://africanamerican4th.omeka.net/items/show/24.