Cartoon updates Statue of Liberty’s poem in light of refugee debate
The Boston Globe political cartoonist Dan Wasserman took to updating the Statue of Liberty’s famed poem in light of widespread opposition to the resettling of Syrian refugees in the U.S. this week.
The cartoon is a play on “The New Colossus’’ the famed Emma Lazarus poem enscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty. Or, as the poem calls it, the “Mother of Exiles.’’
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore,’’ the poem reads.
Since Friday’s attacks on Paris, more than two dozen governors have said they would not accept Syrian refugees to be resettled in their states. That list of names includes Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker, who said he opposes resettling refugees here until he hears more information about the federal vetting process.
It also includes New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, the only Democratic governor to take the no-refugee position.
The cartoon is reminiscent of past political drawings that were related to the U.S.’s rejection of Jewish refugees on the eve of the Holocaust.
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In 1939, the ship St. Louis arrived at Cuba with about 900 Jewish refugees, hoping for passage to safety in the U.S. However, the passengers were turned back to Europe, and many of them later died during World War II.
At the time, American public opinion was overwhelmingly against accepting Jewish refugees from Germany. Critics like The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank have referenced the St. Louis and the rising antipathy toward Muslim refugees as a case of history tragically repeating itself.
Gallery: Photos of the Syrian refugee crisis
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