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Growing up I had always assumed this poem was endorsed by national leadership at the time, or had some other important reason for being associated with the Stat

Growing up I had always assumed this poem was endorsed by national leadership at the time, or had some other important reason for being associated with the Statue of Liberty. If you look into the history of the poem, it’s actually a bit odd. There was some fundraising exhibition to raise money for the statue’s pedestal. The poem was submitted as part of the exhibition. After the exhibition, the poem had no cultural significance. Then, a full two decades later, a friend of the poem’s author successfully lobbied to have the poem added to the pedestal as an engraving. Then, being on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, the poem was picked up as significant by history books and the media, I suppose, and rebroadcasted ad infinitum, especially into the ears of pliable young schoolchildren. You may consider if this is why you find the poem to be meaningful or significant.

InkCanon 2y ago
I'm also somewhat confused by it. To my (admittedly limited) knowledge of immigration in the US, it was not really endorsed by any major figure or movement. In fact there were many anti immigration bills and laws written during that time.
- pfannkuchen 2y ago
  Right, and I think the average American citizen at the time would consider the current immigration situation in America to be straightforwardly insane. They were really incredibly racist by today’s standards back then. So it’s quite weird to reference that poem as if America is in danger of losing some virtue it used to have back at that time, when if anything it is in danger of returning to the actual mainstream views at the time the poem was written.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > reference that poem as if America is in danger of losing some virtue it used to have back at that time, when if anything it is in danger of returning to the actual mainstream views at the time the poem was written I literally just quoted the poem. If anything, this thread is the most-interesting literary criticism of it I've seen. It's a Rorscach test of something, and I'm genuinely unsure what that something is.
    - TMWNN 2y ago
      >I literally just quoted the poem You and I both know that this is not your first day on the Internet. Are you really claiming to be unfamiliar with the fact that that the poem's most frequent use online is as an all-size-fits-all riposte against any and all immigration enforcement? What pfannkuchen said, "So it’s quite weird to reference that poem as if America is in danger of losing some virtue it used to have back at that time", very well describes its typical usage.
      - pseudalopex 2y ago
        Even quoting the poem with approval does not imply any belief about popular opinions when it was written. People quote the Declaration of Independence knowing it was written by a slave owner.
        TMWNN 2y ago
        The Declaration, and the Constitution, set out ideals and standards. That neither the country nor its citizens (including their authors) always live up to them does not invalidate their worthiness. The Lazarus poem is, as I said, typically used in online debate as a universal cudgel. "By quoting this STUNNING AND BRAVE poem, I have 100% defeated your evil racist right-wing anti-migrant rhetoric! I don't have to provide the name of the author, the poem's name, the circumstances behind its writing, when and how it appeared on the pedestal, the standards every immigrant had to meet to pass through Ellis Island, or anything else! IT'S THAT POWERFUL!!!1!!!!!11"
        pseudalopex 2y ago
        > The Declaration, and the Constitution, set out ideals and standards. That neither the country nor its citizens (including their authors) always live up to them does not invalidate their worthiness. The poem sets out ideals and standards. That neither the country nor its citizens (including their authors) always live up to them does not invalidate their worthiness. > The Lazarus poem is, as I said, typically used in online debate as a universal cudgel. "By quoting this STUNNING AND BRAVE poem, I have 100% defeated your evil racist right-wing anti-migrant rhetoric! I don't have to provide the name of the author, the poem's name, the circumstances behind its writing, when and how it appeared on the pedestal, the standards every immigrant had to meet to pass through Ellis Island, or anything else! IT'S THAT POWERFUL!!!1!!!!!11" The poem is famous. Most search engines are free. Are you equally histrionic when someone quotes the Declaration of Independence without title and author?
  - pseudalopex 2y ago
    The poem was written to persuade. It is quite normal someone would find it persuasive or employ it to persuade others.
JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> being on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, the poem was picked up as significant by history books and the media, I suppose The history books picked it up after the media, which picked it up--in turn--after WWII. WWII caused us to embrace our heritage as a nation of immigrants, emphasising our tolerance in the wake of the Holocaust. (The alternative was looking at what we did to the Indians in comparison with the Nazis.) The poem came up because the author was motivated to write it, in part, because she empathised with that era's Jewish immigrants from Europe. (Fleeing the pogroms.) > was some fundraising exhibition You're describing the fundraising that built the pedastal. The poem was donated to help pay for it. (France paid for the statue.) This wasn't "some fundraising," it was the fundraising that built he damn thing. The U.S. government famously didn't pay a dime for the Statue of Liberty.

InkCanon 2y ago

I'm also somewhat confused by it. To my (admittedly limited) knowledge of immigration in the US, it was not really endorsed by any major figure or movement. In fact there were many anti immigration bills and laws written during that time.

pfannkuchen 2y ago
Right, and I think the average American citizen at the time would consider the current immigration situation in America to be straightforwardly insane. They were really incredibly racist by today’s standards back then. So it’s quite weird to reference that poem as if America is in danger of losing some virtue it used to have back at that time, when if anything it is in danger of returning to the actual mainstream views at the time the poem was written.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > reference that poem as if America is in danger of losing some virtue it used to have back at that time, when if anything it is in danger of returning to the actual mainstream views at the time the poem was written I literally just quoted the poem. If anything, this thread is the most-interesting literary criticism of it I've seen. It's a Rorscach test of something, and I'm genuinely unsure what that something is.
  - TMWNN 2y ago
    >I literally just quoted the poem You and I both know that this is not your first day on the Internet. Are you really claiming to be unfamiliar with the fact that that the poem's most frequent use online is as an all-size-fits-all riposte against any and all immigration enforcement? What pfannkuchen said, "So it’s quite weird to reference that poem as if America is in danger of losing some virtue it used to have back at that time", very well describes its typical usage.
    - pseudalopex 2y ago
      Even quoting the poem with approval does not imply any belief about popular opinions when it was written. People quote the Declaration of Independence knowing it was written by a slave owner.
      - TMWNN 2y ago
        The Declaration, and the Constitution, set out ideals and standards. That neither the country nor its citizens (including their authors) always live up to them does not invalidate their worthiness. The Lazarus poem is, as I said, typically used in online debate as a universal cudgel. "By quoting this STUNNING AND BRAVE poem, I have 100% defeated your evil racist right-wing anti-migrant rhetoric! I don't have to provide the name of the author, the poem's name, the circumstances behind its writing, when and how it appeared on the pedestal, the standards every immigrant had to meet to pass through Ellis Island, or anything else! IT'S THAT POWERFUL!!!1!!!!!11"
        pseudalopex 2y ago
        > The Declaration, and the Constitution, set out ideals and standards. That neither the country nor its citizens (including their authors) always live up to them does not invalidate their worthiness. The poem sets out ideals and standards. That neither the country nor its citizens (including their authors) always live up to them does not invalidate their worthiness. > The Lazarus poem is, as I said, typically used in online debate as a universal cudgel. "By quoting this STUNNING AND BRAVE poem, I have 100% defeated your evil racist right-wing anti-migrant rhetoric! I don't have to provide the name of the author, the poem's name, the circumstances behind its writing, when and how it appeared on the pedestal, the standards every immigrant had to meet to pass through Ellis Island, or anything else! IT'S THAT POWERFUL!!!1!!!!!11" The poem is famous. Most search engines are free. Are you equally histrionic when someone quotes the Declaration of Independence without title and author?
- pseudalopex 2y ago
  The poem was written to persuade. It is quite normal someone would find it persuasive or employ it to persuade others.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago

> being on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, the poem was picked up as significant by history books and the media, I suppose The history books picked it up after the media, which picked it up--in turn--after WWII. WWII caused us to embrace our heritage as a nation of immigrants, emphasising our tolerance in the wake of the Holocaust. (The alternative was looking at what we did to the Indians in comparison with the Nazis.) The poem came up because the author was motivated to write it, in part, because she empathised with that era's Jewish immigrants from Europe. (Fleeing the pogroms.) > was some fundraising exhibition You're describing the fundraising that built the pedastal. The poem was donated to help pay for it. (France paid for the statue.) This wasn't "some fundraising," it was the fundraising that built he damn thing. The U.S. government famously didn't pay a dime for the Statue of Liberty.