A recent letter claimed, “Originally, America said give us your smartest and brightest” (“Immigrants should prove worth to become citizens,” Star-Advertiser, Aug. 31). Two people named Lazarus offer a different perspective.
Emma Lazarus’ Statue of Liberty poem lists the tired, the poor, the huddled masses, the wretched refuse and implores, “Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.”
The Biblical Lazarus, of course, was brought back to life. Isn’t that what all immigrants to America are seeking: a new life?
To the writer: When your forebears arrived in the U.S., were they welcomed as the “smartest and brightest”? My grandfather worked for the Kauai sugar plantation; his father was a tenant farmer in Massachusetts. Some of my husband’s ancestors may have come as debtors, yet my Ph.D. father-in-law worked as a research chemist.
So among those huddled masses, how do we know which are the “smartest and brightest” until we give them a chance?
Leslie Ann Munro
Aiea Heights
EXPRESS YOURSELF
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser welcomes all opinions. Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor.
>> Write us: We welcome letters up to 150 words, and guest columns of 500-600 words. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Include your name, address and daytime phone number.
>> Mail: Letters to the Editor, Honolulu Star-Advertiser 7 Waterfront Plaza, 500 Ala Moana, Suite #7-500 Honolulu, HI 96813
>> Contact: 529-4831 (phone), letters@staradvertiser.com, staradvertiser.com/editorial/submit-letter
