This isn’t a political blog, at all. It’s not supposed to be, at least.
But, for shame. I can’t sit by. Nor, I’d like to think, would Shakespeare …
Lou Reed sung, in ‘Dirty Boulevard’:
Give me your hungry, your tired, your poor I’ll piss on ’em
That’s what the Statue of Bigotry says
Your poor huddled masses
Let’s club ’em to death
And get it over with and just dump ’em on the boulevard
And Shakespeare?
There seems to be a general acceptance nowadays that Shakespeare had a hand in writing St Thomas More, and in particular, More’s speech in Act II sc iv seems attributable to him. It’s not difficult: More (Shakespeare) simply asks us to recognise the humanity of refugees, and to walk a mile in their shoes. It works on More’s audience within the play. It ought to on us all.
Ian McKellen nails it here …
I’m not a US citizen. Some might think this is ‘nothing to do with me‘. Nevertheless, the Executive Order that repels the entry of refugees into the US offends my sense of humanity.
The Boar's Head, Eastcheap 