On the feet of the Statue of Liberty, an inscription reads: ‘Give me your drained, your poor. Your huddled masses craving to breathe free.’
Now, 140 years after the famous green lady was gifted to America from France, a lawmaker has suggested it’s time the US gives it back.
MEP Raphaël Glucksmann said: ‘We’re going to say to the Americans who’ve chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: “Give us back the Statue of Liberty.”
‘We gave it to you as a present, but apparently you despise it. So it’s going to be just high quality here at home,’ he added.
Glucksmann went on to suggest that France would welcome the federal government researchers and employees who were fired en masse under the brand new administration.
‘If you wish to fire your best researchers, if you wish to fire all of the individuals who, through their freedom and their sense of innovation, their taste for doubt and research, have made your country the world’s leading power, then we’re going to welcome them,’ he said.
The thought for the statue was originally conceived by French politician and US Structure expert Edouard de Laboulaye as an emblem of the friendship between the French and the Americans and an indication of their mutual desire for liberty.
It was then sculpted by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi as a logo of liberty, justice and democracy.
It took twenty years to construct, before it was dismantled and shipped to Latest York from France. Americans paid for the stone pedestal Lady Liberty stands on today, however the statue itself was a present from the French.
Nonetheless, it has taken on other symbolism over time, having greeted hundreds of thousands of immigrants to the US shores and being seen as their symbol of hope and opportunity for a greater life there.
Its official website also explains that the torch held by the Statue of Liberty lights the technique to freedom, showing us the trail to liberty.
The present torch on the statue was replaced in 1986, and reflects the sun’s rays within the daytime, while at evening time it’s lit by 16 floodlights.
Meanwhile, the Statue’s left hand holds a tablet of law which is inscribed with the date of American Independence – July 4, 1776.
It measures 151 feet high and is roofed in sheets of copper, which eventually turned vivid green on account of oxidation from moisture.
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