• Licksrocks@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    “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!”

    I find it incredibly un-american to reject those searching for safety and to make a better life. Welcome them, shelter them, and grant them citizenship. That is what this country was founded for; to escape persecution, and to ensure every man their freedom in the pursuit of happiness.

    • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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      3 days ago

      A year before that poem was written the Chinese Exclusion Act went into effect. Nothing new under the sun.

        • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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          3 days ago

          I’m just pointing out the contradiction between the sentiment and the reality.

          Another grim contradiction would be the “ensure every man their freedom” part from your comment. The US had to have a civil war to make chattel slavery illegal.

          • Licksrocks@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago

            While there may be many injustices in our history and the modern age, that does not mean we have to accept them or stand idle while they happen.

            The sentiment stands, and is a reality many will choose to die for.

            Just as you said, a war was fought to defend the freedoms of every man.

            • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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              3 days ago

              Many will vote and enact the complete opposite, which is why I think thinking of them as shared American ideals doesn’t convince me