totally_human_emdash_user@piefed.blahaj.zone 12 hours ago
In addition, they gave us the Statue of Liberty.
A French politician actually called for it to be returned—to be clear, it was just a single politician, not the whole government—and the Trump administration said (very heavily paraphrasing), “No, it’s ours, and also you suck for being invaded by Germany, so we deserve it more than you.” However, I personally find it ironic that the administration is so attached to it, given the famous poem inscribed on its base that is inseparable from the signifiance of 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!”
gibmiser@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
It’s a fucking travesty that we still have the statue. We are no longer worthy of it.
obre@slrpnk.net 11 hours ago
It’s right where it should be. NYC’s continuing legacy as a hub of culture and diversity should be an example for the rest of the country. Better things are possible and we need symbols to rally around.
EvilTankieSupreme@lemmy.zip 11 hours ago
You never were.