I was telling my son about the 4th of July a couple days ago. It must have stuck in his head because today he decided to make a U.S. flag. (Meaning: he decided that I was making him a U.S. flag.)
He brought me some green paper and a turquoise crayon and told me that he couldn’t find red, white and blue so this would be okay. I took the crayon and drew some stars and stripes for him and then we made a construction paper flag pole and taped it on.
As my son joyfully waved his flag a few minutes later, I was amused: our flag looked like a dollar bill perched on a pole. Somehow this seemed appropriate. Hasn’t our great country become a symbol of wealth, commerce, free trade—in a word: the American Dream?
My son decided to use his flag in place of the traditional torch and pretend to be the Statue of Liberty. My mental wanderings continued:
“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!”
These words once called to those who sought freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or freedom from oppression. As my son inexplicably holds aloft his “dollar bill” flag, I wonder if people are still attracted to America for the light of freedom—or the dollar bills waving in the wind?
Did you see the post-it note caveat they've affixed to the Statue of Liberty directly after the words you quoted? It says, "Unless of course, you come from south of the border."
ReplyDeleteHa ha... nice insight. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny when "Americans" talk down to new immigrants... Almost all of our families were immigrants at one point or another; some have just been here a few more generations.
Silly, silly how people forget so quickly their own history.
You are an amazing writer! I'd love to get inside a brain like yours for a day. Beautiful. You have serious talent.
ReplyDelete