I am an American citizen. I am proud to be an American citizen.
Apparently the only reason I can say the first is because of my birth certificate. But out of all the reasons why I say the second, a birth certificate is not one of them.
I am proud to be an American citizen because of the values and principles that America represents. That the ideas of freedom and freedom of speech and freedom of the press and freedom of religion are all established in the founding principles of our Constitution. That our people are not forced to serve in the military, and those who do are trying their best not just to keep us safe but to also reflect our ideals. That our country's history is a unique one of diversity and accepting of the poor and suffering of other lands and giving them a chance to pursue their dreams here, no matter their color, religion or social standing. That I am free to pursue as high a level of education as I desire without cost or class being an insurmountable barrier. That our country, even though it represents a lot of poor decisions and inequality and suffering and exploitation, still always tries in other ways to be a positive force and better itself as a modern society. For all these reasons and more, these are why I say that I am proud to be an American.
And yes, because of these reasons, it does bother me when someone questions my citizenship, no matter how unintentionally. The first question and my first response is usually along the lines of "Where are you from?" "I'm from Michigan," but depending on how charitable the questioner is being, the followup is usually along the lines of, "No, I mean what part of Asia do you come from?" Because apparently, my first response is not appropriate to the question I think they are asking.
Because outwardly, I look Asian. Even if you wouldn't be able to tell that from the clothes I wear or the things I eat or the music I listen to or the books I read, and probably even if you heard me speaking. In my own mind, I think of myself as an American first. So for someone to even for a moment assume that I am anything but American, even if it is an honest mistake, I take a bit of personal offense. After all, I have done nothing at all to give anyone the impression that I am anything but American, so to have such an important aspect of my identity denied for even a moment and for whatever justification seems wrong.
Am I the only person of color who feels this way? When people speak of the privilege of being white, a prominent example is the issues dealing with the treatment by police or other authority figures. But this is the example for me. How many of you who are white, how would you feel if a stranger came up to you and in so many words basically said, "You are not an American." How many of you have actually felt like you have been in such a situation?
So perhaps, compared to the implications of dying at the hands of police because of your complexion, this type of privilege is far less harmful. But for me, it is a far more pernicious example of privilege; no matter how diverse and accepting this country becomes, will white people ever have to deal with questions of their basic right of citizenship in such a manner? Will they ever have their identity and values and upbringing and experiences in this country summarily rejected so dismissively? I wonder.
I bring up these issues relating to birth certificates because of two salient topics.
The first topic is because of Donald Trump and his repulsive ideas about birthright citizenship. The idea that, just because your parents are not already citizens, you do not get the rights that come with being American.
Talk about completely arbitrary nonsense.
If he and his cohorts had been out here 30 years ago spouting this nonsense, the only difference would be that I and likely millions of others would no longer be able to call ourselves Americans. But perhaps if we go back further, say, 100 years, then most of his cohorts, if not Trump himself, probably would not be able to call themselves Americans anymore, either. How would any of that be in the best interests of the United States? Hey, Trump, I'm sure there are people who feel like it would be in America's best interests if you couldn't call yourself an American, either. How would you feel about that situation?
Taken to its absurd extreme, there is not a single person that can't trace their roots back to someone who wasn't originally born to American citizens. And don't get me started on Biblical literalists who think we are all descended from a single family from the Middle East. So any talk that entertains these notions of taking away citizenship, how can it be anything but absurd?
At the time I was born, my parents were not American citizens. Would that one aspect change how American I am or am not? If I had still grown up in the same country, the same person I am, with the same experiences and views, without being able to truly call myself American because I didn't have the right piece of paper, would that change who I am?
I don't know how much it would change. But I feel like I would still value freedom. I would still value life and the right to pursue happiness. Are these not still the same American values?
Is a birth certificate really all that determines whether someone is an American or not?
The second topic is the smear campaign against Shaun King.
Now, in the case of Shaun King, it is not as issue of citizenship. But one of the key pieces of evidence being held up about his racial identity, is apparently what is written on his birth certificate.
But again I ask, what difference does that birth certificate make? How does whatever is written on a piece of paper measure up to what he as an individual believes in, has accomplished, what he represents to other people?
Again, it's this idea that I reject, that the content of a piece of paper matters more than the content of the person. it is that idea I find most repulsive. And I am glad I am not the only one here who feels that way.
The idea that birth certificates matter more in terms of American citizenship than living by and upholding American values is nothing new in political discourse. We went through similar bullshit with Obama and the Birther movement. I think it's utterly anathema to call on any Presidential candidate - and sure, that includes all the Republican candidates, too - to provide a birth certificate to prove that they are eligible to be President. How about this idea: If you are a candidate who represents the wills of so many Americans that you win enough votes to be President, why should showing your birth certificate even matter? Why does one piece of paper outweigh the genuine expression of millions of Americans, that this individual represents their ideals of the representative of all America?
Setting aside the legal and Constitutional requirements, the birth certificate does not make the American. It is the American, and who he or she is as a person, that is the reason that birth certificates even matter in the first place. Because if American citizenship did not matter as much, in terms of who the person wants to identify with and share the values of, would people still place so much value in being an official American?