On August 5, 1884, the cornerstone of the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal was laid with no shortage of pomp and circumstance. That celebration was entirely appropriate, as the monument would welcome millions of people into the American family as they passed through New York Harbor to Ellis Island.
I visited the statue the day after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. On my visit, I saw the plaque inscribed with the text of Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus”:
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!”
That “brazen giant” is the Colossus of Rhodes, the ancient Greek statue that celebrated victory in war and the might of its creators. In the poet’s conception, this new colossus, Lady Liberty, showcases not military prowess and power, but freedom.
Rather than tearing people down, the United States helps them lift themselves up by securing their God-given rights through its Founding principles. Each victory for freedom adds to its majesty.
The most recent victory was sending Roe to the ash heap of history where it belongs. Now, we still have a job to do on abortion, along with many other issues. We can look to Lady Liberty and the words of Lazarus for inspiration.