Philadelphia.

Over the past weekend I, along with some of my peers, attended a model United Nations conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I found Philadelphia a bizarre city, a mix of new deal era art deco and modernistic hell. One moment you will be staring at a gorgeous building, coated with intricate designs in the walls and gorgeous statues, and the next you see a post-war faux-modern office building that inspires pure depression. At the same time it is an amazing city, it has an incredible culture, food scene, and contains some of the best universities. It is a walking contrast, a perfect symbol for the United States as a whole. In one sense America is a gorgeous nation, a shining star in a dark world. We are a country enshrined with with the principles of liberty and justice for all. When you enter New York City, the cultural capital of the nation, you see a statue of Lady Liberty, standing tall holding a torch, inscribed with the words ““Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” These words are the prophecy of America, they are what makes us great, and yet they are forgotten. Just as Philadelphia is a split of ugly and beautiful, so too is America. Lady Liberty standing tall is contrasted by burning crosses and confederate flags. Mass deportations and police murdering innocent black people, yet we claim to be a land of the free, a home of the brave. How can a nation be the land of the free, the home of the brave, or ask for the tired, poor, and huddled masses yearning to breathe free when we deport millions, murder innocents, and maintain an profit based industrial prison system rooted in the capture of black and brown people.