Minorities criticize Liberty celebration, p. 1
Dublin Core
Title
Minorities criticize Liberty celebration, p. 1
Description
“NEW YORK (UPI) - Several groups representing minorities have announced plans to ignore the official centennial for the Statue of Liberty and holds parties that celebrate more than just “America’s white past.”
“The French gave us the statue as an appreciation for the abolitionists, and the fact that United States set the slaves free. That the whole story is never told,” said Rep. Major Owens, D-NY, who represents part of Brooklyn.
“There is this great sentiment that it (the celebration) is European centered, that the basic story of the Statue of Liberty is being ignored,” he said Monday.
Owens and other critics say the festival is celebrating America’s while past, and ignores Hispanics, blacks, Asians and other minorities who also came here as “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
“I’ve heard lost of complaints about the way it is being handled,” Owens said.
The four-day party from July 3 to July 6 will feature fireworks, tall ships, a $1,000-a-person party with President Reagan and other festivities to toast the statue’s 100th birthday.
The Caribbean Cultural Center is throwing its own party - called “Sweet Land of Liberty … For Whom?” - on June 28 with poetry, dance and exhibits.
“People are disenchanted,” said Marta Vega Moreno of the Caribbean Cultural Center. “The celebration should reflect a celebration of ethnic communities in this city, and this nation. A lot of cultures are not being recognized.”
Other community groups are planning in similar events. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is showing an exhibit “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor … ?” on the voluntary black migration to the United States.
That Studio Museum in Harlem is running programs from July 2 to Sept. 28 telling people “how to face the Fourth of July as a black in America.”
Liberty Weekend spokesman Jonas Halperin denied the charges made by critics, saying blacks are well represented throughout the festivities.
He said a film being shown at the opening ceremonies features blacks, black entertainers are participating and a black psychologist is getting one of the liberty medals.
“There is in the opening ceremonies a segment on film dealing with the immigrant experience. A portion of the segment deals with black immigrants - from Africa, those who were brought here by chain of course, and those who came from the islands,” he said.”
“The French gave us the statue as an appreciation for the abolitionists, and the fact that United States set the slaves free. That the whole story is never told,” said Rep. Major Owens, D-NY, who represents part of Brooklyn.
“There is this great sentiment that it (the celebration) is European centered, that the basic story of the Statue of Liberty is being ignored,” he said Monday.
Owens and other critics say the festival is celebrating America’s while past, and ignores Hispanics, blacks, Asians and other minorities who also came here as “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
“I’ve heard lost of complaints about the way it is being handled,” Owens said.
The four-day party from July 3 to July 6 will feature fireworks, tall ships, a $1,000-a-person party with President Reagan and other festivities to toast the statue’s 100th birthday.
The Caribbean Cultural Center is throwing its own party - called “Sweet Land of Liberty … For Whom?” - on June 28 with poetry, dance and exhibits.
“People are disenchanted,” said Marta Vega Moreno of the Caribbean Cultural Center. “The celebration should reflect a celebration of ethnic communities in this city, and this nation. A lot of cultures are not being recognized.”
Other community groups are planning in similar events. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is showing an exhibit “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor … ?” on the voluntary black migration to the United States.
That Studio Museum in Harlem is running programs from July 2 to Sept. 28 telling people “how to face the Fourth of July as a black in America.”
Liberty Weekend spokesman Jonas Halperin denied the charges made by critics, saying blacks are well represented throughout the festivities.
He said a film being shown at the opening ceremonies features blacks, black entertainers are participating and a black psychologist is getting one of the liberty medals.
“There is in the opening ceremonies a segment on film dealing with the immigrant experience. A portion of the segment deals with black immigrants - from Africa, those who were brought here by chain of course, and those who came from the islands,” he said.”
Creator
N/A
Publisher
Baltimore African American
Date
1986-28-6
Collection
Citation
N/A, “Minorities criticize Liberty celebration, p. 1,” African American Fourth of July, accessed April 27, 2024, https://africanamerican4th.omeka.net/items/show/29.