Lazarus contrasts the original Colossus (of Rhodes), a “brazen giant” representing conquest and exclusion of outsiders, with the “mighty…Mother of Exiles” who will provide protection for outsiders “yearning to breathe free.” “Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
The statue, a gift from France which celebrated its friendship with the U.S., was also meant to inspire European governments to grant more freedom and democracy in Europe. However, the statue and sentiments expressed in Lazarus’ poem became, and have remained, beacons of hope and symbols of “world-wide welcome” to the oppressed and exiled who have left other countries to come here.
Some misguided Americans have shown diminished appreciation of these ideals. But most New Yorkers have not, and continue to extend a welcome to all immigrants.
Text by Anne Olshansky. Photo by © Joel Gordon 2018—All rights reserved.
