The Supreme Court remixes America’s anthem by siding with Trump and his administration on their racist travel ban.
There is a poem on The Statue of Liberty that ends with these lines,
“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-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
The poem is called “New Colossus” and it has been heralded as the very mantra of The United States of America. The sentiment has not only been our mantra, but in many respects has become our anthem. We so love to pride ourselves with being a nation of immigrants. In American lore, Lady Liberty lifts her torch as a beaconed light to the golden doors of opportunity found on the shores of this country. These sentiments are echoed in about a dozen songs about our nation. But again and again, we see that this is true for some (immigrants from European countries) and not true for others… just check 45’s “sh*thole countries” comments.
When you look at the eight nations listed in the Trump travel ban, three are African (Libya, Chad and Somalia) , three are middle eastern (Syria, Iran and Yemen), one Asian (North Korea) and one from South America (Venezuela), there is definitely a bias based on race and religion. When you think about the thinly veiled concentration camps for Latino people where children are separated from their parents, you see that the level of compassion is just different for people of color. This doesn’t seem like the same place that the open-armed poem celebrates.
That’s because it is not.
The poem is all but a distant ode to a fictional utopia of old. Current politics more than ever has dismissed the notion and moved to a space of racial and national elitism like never before. According to the Associated Press, The Supreme Court will uphold 45’s travel ban on countries that seem to be a risk to our homeland security. Many of these countries on the list are nations that are Islamic in polity, politics and tradition. The court seemed to be split, as only one vote by Chief Justice John Roberts allowed the ruling to pass. The 5-4 decision is the first major accomplishment that 45 and his administration can claim. We know that he has been taking major “L’s” since stepping foot in office, but surprisingly (and regrettably) he is winning on this front.
We will be watching to see how this advances, but will also note that this is a huge blow to the idea that America is a friend to the immigrant.
