George R. R. Martin, famed author of the Game of Thrones series of books (and a little-known television series of the same name), wrote a blog post on his Not A Blog livejournal a couple of days ago. He titled it “My Position On the Syrian Refugees.” It opens with Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus,” which appears at the base of the Statue of Liberty.
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."
Martin makes the connection between France being our oldest ally, the Statue of Liberty being a gift from that ally, and the recent bloodshed there as well. The best-selling author proceeds to break down, in its most elementary terms, the meaning of our Statue of Liberty and the poem chosen to message it.
Of course, most everyone knows the part about 'your tired, your poor, your huddled masses,' but let me draw your attention to some other lines of the poem:
-- a mighty woman with a torch... her name Mother of Exiles,
-- from her beacon hand, Glows world-wide welcome,
-- send these, the homeless, tempest-tost, to me.
Emma Lazarus had it right. Donald Trump and thirty-one governors have it wrong, wrong, wrong.
The Syrian refugees are as much victims of ISIS as the dead in France.
Let them in. Santa Fe, at least, will welcome them.
Good on you, Mr. Martin.
via George R. R. Martin