Written by Henry Slesar, the story originally was published in the January 1964 edition of Amazing Stories. It has never been reprinted, but the copyright lapsed so it's free to read on Project Gutenberg
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Tropes:
- After the End: Earth, three or four millennia in the future, is devoid of human life, with only our artifacts like the Statue of Liberty left behind to show our presence. How we died is unclear, though implicitly it's due to our violence.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: The story features Humanoid Aliens with bright blue skin.
- Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: The aliens had no memory of murder ever occurring between them until coming to Earth. Given they practice a collective Forgetting where unpleasant things are not taught to younger people, it's quite possible this has happened, but they had Forgotten it.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Peaceful blue-skinned aliens come to Earth seeking refuge after some cataclysm made them leave their planet. While granted refuge, sadly they're victims of fear, resentment and violence by humans, including hate crimes as a result of their superior talents along with looking different. This focuses on the US, with the Statue of Liberty found by the aliens' descendants millennia later after they left and humanity died out, whose inscribed promise to welcome refugees was not followed. All of this closely follows what has too frequently occurred with refugees in the US and other countries. The author, Henry Slesar, was born to Jewish refugees from Ukraine. Its title comes from "The New Colossus" poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty by Emma Lazarus (also a Jew) in empathy toward other Jews fleeing from antisemitism, but sadly some faced this again within the US. Lazarus advocated on their behalf.
- Fantastic Racism: Peaceful blue-skinned alien refugees settle on Earth. They are soon targets of human bigots who can't stand their achievements. A terrorist group forms in the US which targets them, culminating in the Kansas City Massacre of 2009 when thousands are murdered with flamethrowers. It's the last straw for them, and they leave Earth as a result.
- First Contact: A peaceful blue-skinned alien species comes to Earth seeking refuge after losing their home world. While this is granted, some are almost immediately murdered. Later, even more bigoted human violence against them makes the aliens leave.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: The first female alien on Earth (who have blue skin), Stytin, is described as being "lovely in her shapeliness".
- Humanity's Wake: Explorers from the alien Illyrian species come to Earth, after humanity has died out millennia before. The Illyrian archaeologists uncover our history through studying the ruins that are left behind on the planet, chiefly the Statue of Liberty. Just why we went extinct isn't revealed, but it's implied our violence did us in.
- Humanoid Aliens: The aliens differ only slightly from humanity, with the main contrast being their blue skin. It's discussed as hard to believe by some humans; the aliens believe this general body plan would be taken by any sapients who exist. A human character speculates it may be the image of God very literally put in place.
- Humans Are Bastards: The story really drives this home, with alien refugees coming to Earth. Some are almost immediately killed by fearful or bigoted humans, and they leave eventually after a horrific massacre committed by human terrorists against them. Millennia later, their descendants are now thriving and rediscover Earth, where humanity has died out. On learning of what happened, one man calls Earth worthy of death.
- An Immigrant's Tale: Peaceful blue-skinned aliens come to Earth seeking refuge after losing their home world in the past. However, despite them contributing greatly to the global economy, human bigots loathe their success, with the aliens ultimately fleeing Earth in the wake of widespread violence against them.
- Karmic Twist Ending: The Illyrians, aliens exploring an empty Earth in the future, are the same blue-skinned refugees who fled it after being driven off by our violent bigotry. The same violence, the story implied, would eventually destroy humanity. One artifact from our time remains prominent though: the Statue of Liberty, whose poetic promise of refuge was broken. Now, those refugees are not only still living but thriving, with humanity gone.
- Look on My Works, Ye Mighty, and Despair: The Illyrians, an alien species, come to Earth and find the Statue of Liberty half-buried in the sand. After it's excavated and they decipher English, they read the famous poem on the base, long after humanity has gone extinct.
- Space Jews: Peaceful alien refugees who lost their home world come to Earth. Almost at once they become very successful with business and many humans target them with violence out of jealous bigotry. Suffering massacres, they flee Earth eventually for somewhere else. This closely resembles what many Jews have experienced, with the author being Jewish and also the son of Ukrainian Jews who came to the US for refuge.
- Title Drop: The title is from the final line in "The New Colossus" poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, with the entire thing quoted right before the end.