The Statue of Liberty is an American symbol like no other. Standing proudly in the harbor, she was the welcome promise of freedom for the down-trodden, outcasts of poorer nations. Written by Emma Lazarus in 1883, the poem we all know a part of, goes like this:

“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!'”

Think about what this poem meant. Originally titled “The New Colossus,” the “brazen giant of Greek fame” referred to the Colossus of Rhodes, a giant statue of the Greek god Helios, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and a symbol of victory. This new Colossus represented succor and freedom from oppression. She represented the hope of a new life where those tired, poor huddled masses could give their children a better life.

Lazarus, a Jew, wrote the poem to advocate for Jewish immigrants who were fleeing Russia and Eastern Europe. The poem was placed on the base of the Statue of Liberty in 1903.

Originally called “Liberty Enlightening the World,” designed by French sculptor Frederic Bartholdi, the face was modeled after Bartholdi’s mother. The seven spikes are not part of a crown, but a halo with the seven spikes representing the seven seas and seven continents of the world.

Her torch and tablet are inscribed with the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, and although her feet are not clearly visible, she is, with one foot raised, walking away from a broken shackle and chains.

So what did the sculptor and poet have in mind when they created this quintessentially American icon? Certainly the newly freed African slaves saw the irony in a statue representing freedom for all. Their freedom came at the tremendously high cost of a civil war, tearing this newfound nation apart.

In the early to mid-1800s, 40 percent of the immigrants were Irish. The mid-1800s saw gold in California, transcontinental railroads and an influx of Chinese immigrants to the West Coast. Congress, in an effort to stem the flow of Chinese, enacted the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, making immigration of practically all Chinese illegal.

Other nationalities encountered hostility in America. Those who were born here felt threatened by job competition, religious and political differences, and so their anger was directed at Jews, Roman Catholics, the Irish, and Japanese as well.

The signs of “No Irish need apply” or “No Jews allowed” still ring in our national consciousness. Every wave of immigration to this “land of the free” has been met with suspicion, discrimination, racism and distrust, until those immigrants are finally accepted into the mainstream of American life, perhaps generations in the future.

Have we learned anything in the last 242 years? Evidently not. The American government has followed the sentiments of the American people, albeit slowly, to restrict the flow of certain nationalities to our land of milk and honey. If government legislation can’t stop people from entering, let’s build a wall.

The patina of the Lady in the Harbor is wearing thin. She will celebrate her 133rd birthday in October. Perhaps it is time she retired. Unless of course we can once again embrace her true meaning.

Robyn Near is a Ripley resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com