The Statue of Liberty National Monument is called a "Beacon of Liberty". "The symbol of American freedom and opportunity, Lady Liberty has long been a beacon to those seeking refuge on our shores" states the website on the National Park Foundation, the agency that is charged with caring for the historic statue.

Emblazoned at the base of the statue are the famous words of poet Emma Lazarus: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”

Unfortunately America can no longer live up to the ideals and significance of this great statue standing so strongly in the harbor of New York City. America can no longer claim this noble high ground of compassion, vitality and freedom. The tired and poor are no longer welcome here and a great many Americans can no longer "breathe free" as they are imprisoned in an intractable system of economic slavery, rampant prejudice and class oppression. As a nation we can no longer fool ourselves nor put forth to the world the lofty promise of a free society and a welcome to the persecuted, the homeless or the needy.

For these reasons the presence of "Lady Liberty" in the port of New York, the symbolic gateway to our country, is hypocritical and a mockery of the fallen state of affairs of our once great nation. And for these reasons, sadly, she should be dismantled and removed from sight for however long it takes to regain the great ideal she once represented.

We call upon the National Park Service, the State of New York, and Congress of the United States to undertake the rightful but painful task of removing our once great symbol of welcome and freedom from the public view.