For more than a century, the Statue of Liberty has greeted approaching immigrants. She held out her beacon of hope to the suffering masses of Europe. She became a symbol of America, representing the best values to which our nation aspires. I believe it is time for a second monument to liberty on our southern border.

Call her, perhaps, Our Lady of Liberty. Endow her with those virtues that define our country at its best: tolerance, generosity, fellowship, freedom. Have her face our great neighbors: Mexico, Central America and South America. Her arms should be open as if to say, Welcome, neighbor, thank you for your visit, share this day with us. She should be strong and mighty and lovely and kind, towering over any desert or wall. Carve her from native rock.

This will, of course, be a national project. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the world to us, and it expressed the view the world had of our potential. This time, we will build a monument of ourselves and express the consensus of our character to the world. Have we lived up to the promise of Libertys beacon? As a nation, we will be called to examine our collective conscience. We will need a national conversation. As designers, artist, and leaders plan the edifice, we will call upon men and women of all walks of life, all races and creeds, to define the message Our Lady is to embody.

Thomas Bremer, Portland

Excerpt from:

Readers respond: We need a southern Statue of Liberty - OregonLive.com