Islamphobia and the Statue of Liberty. Oh, the irony!

A painting of Lady Liberty in hijab hangs in congressman’s office. Despite protests, he says it’ll stay. By Samantha Schmidt August 8 at 5:38 AM

Each year, scores of high school students across the country compete in the Congressional Art Competition, submitting works of art for a chance to be featured at the U.S. Capitol.

Now, for the second year in a row, a teenager’s painting for the contest has become the center of a political controversy, drawing ire from conservative groups. This time around, the artwork stirred complaints even before making it to D.C.

The painting, a finalist in the competition, currently hangs in California, in the Santa Ana office of Rep. J. Luis Correa, a congressional Democrat. It depicts the Statue of Liberty wearing a hijab, holding her torch across the left side of her body.
(Courtesy of the Amplifier Foundation)

While the painting is simply a piece of art created by a local female high school student, its symbolism is clearly political. It evokes imagery similar to other works of art that have circulated since President Trump’s election, such as the popular “We The People” poster of a woman wearing an American flag as a hijab.

But for some conservatives, the painting has no place in the office of an elected congressman.

When local activist group We the People Rising saw the painting in Correa’s office, its members set out on a campaign to have it removed, calling it a separation of church and state issue.

Early last month, a member of the group, which advocates for stricter immigration laws, wrote a letter to Correa requesting that his office take down the painting, saying it was “not appropriate” for the public office of a congressman. The group said it received guidance from a legal consultant.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations shared the Orange County Register’s story about the painting on Facebook, including the words “Islamophobia Watch.” In response, a number of people wrote that the idea behind the nation’s symbol of freedom was initially conceived as an Egyptian woman and — by default in those times — a Muslim.

[America’s most famous statue was Muslim before she became Lady Liberty]

Indeed, before French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi brought his majestic vision for the Statue of Liberty to the United States, he had conceived an idea for a lighthouse that would stand at the entrance to the Suez Canal. Bartholdi wanted to carve the likeness of an Egyptian peasant woman holding aloft a torch of freedom, according to historian Michael B. Oren. But the Egyptian viceroy could not afford to finance Bartholdi’s project, The Post reported.