Message of the Statue of Liberty

I was debating whether to just put this in as a comment, or as a separate post, but the message of the Statue of Liberty is something we seem to have forgotten. I read a number of web articles about it, and chose this one: MESSAGE OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, The Promise of the Golden Door, by Julie Redstone.
In case you've forgotten, there is a plaque with this poem the "The New Colossus," written in 1883 by Emma Lazarus, appear on the Statue's pedestal:

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!"

Julie Redstone continues to explain what this Liberty is:

What is the Golden Door?
It is the entrance into liberty and freedom from oppression that is the promise of America - a land, a people, a way of life.

It is also the freedom of spirit and of choice that was declared an inalienable right in the Declaration of Independence - a document whose date of execution, July 4th, 1776, is inscribed on the tablet she carries. The Statue welcomes all to this door - the lost, the needy, the rejected, the exiled. She invites them to step through it into freedom.

Liberty's comforting presence is increasingly needed when the sea of world events becomes more stormy, the waves higher. In times of turbulence, her light is reassuring, her presence, a guarantor of safety.
(Redstone)

I must admit that I had always thought that the part of the poem with "Give me your tired and poor" was engraved around the statue, not just on a plaque, so I learned something here.

The women of the earlier post from Iraq finally were welcomed at the Golden Door, but it evidently "freedom from opression" might welcome a select few, but we have not been very good hosts since they got here, to help them achieve the freedom they sought. They are again "huddled masses." And the immigrants, who have given up trying to come here legally because the system is broken, may be "huddled masses" but they're not welcomed at the Golden Door.

Of course these days there are a lot of people born in this country who feel that they are part of the "huddled masses," or maybe, "yearning to be free." It is our responsibility as teachers to help our students attain what they have come to school for: their highest potential, which will give them Liberty. This means ensuring that we give them ample opportunities to learn the cognitive skills, including academic English (the topic of the next chapter) to achieve this potential.

Life not what they expected

As I was beginning to think about this blog, I read an article in the LA Times about Iraqi refugees to this country, Iraqi refugees find U.S. life not what they expected. For Iraqi refuges, coming to the U.S. presents multiple conflicts. They are often part of the previously dominant Sunni culture of Iraq, often highly educated, accustomed to a high position in society, which included staff to cook and clean. But furthermore, they are coming to the country that conquered them and removed the possibility to continue the privileged life they had known. Often they will need retraining to be able to hold a position even vaguely resembling what they had known.

The article describes the travails of a woman lawyer, whose husband disappeared, and her adult daughter, who has a master's in computer science. I assume particularly the daughter speaks English somewhat fluently, and will soon be able to find work somewhat related to her education; her lawyer mother had hoped that she would at least be able to do clerical work in a law office. But this has not yet happened because of the current economic situation.

The Iraqis are some of the most educated and skilled refugees to come here, aid workers say. Used to a middle-class life, many hope to work as doctors, lawyers or accountants. But recertification is costly and time-consuming. So they are advised to at first pursue more typical refugee work as shop attendants and cleaners.
(Zavis, p 2)

They all discuss whether it would be better to return to Iraq, but then they remember why they had to flee. The new identity forced upon them here is distressing, but the life available to them - their former identity no longer exists.

"Everything in my life was destroyed, even my dreams," Ann said after mother and daughter labored over a meal that back home would have been cooked for them. [the daughter continued:] "I blame her. I'm sorry for that. . . . She always protect me. Why she can't protect me this time?"
(Zavis, p 3)

They will have to renegotiate their identity time and again in this country until they can feel comfortable with what it has become.