Category: Discussion Board 7

What I learned from the reading and the film is that if you want to become a citizen of that country, you must live there or work there for many years, but there still has some exception like if your couple came from that country, you could become a citizen for that country immediately. For example, if you want to become a US citizen, you need to live in the us for 5 years or more, but if you got married to a US citizen for over 3 years, you could still become a US citizen. But for some countries, you can never become a citizen of that country. For example, China is not accepting any foreigner to become a Chinese citizen, no matter how long they live there, they can only get to live in China but not as a citizen.

Citizenship means to me is you become a part of the country, you will feel very comfortable to live there, you will also feel a sense of belonging. People who born in us or becoming US citizens are considering a part of the US. They belong to this country because they build a family and having friends and jobs in this country.

In America you need to be White/European/Caucasian to meet the Criteria for citizenship. You had to be a certain type of white, as in the right skin color of white, as Irish are seen as too pale and Italian and Greeks are too tan. White people from other countries such as Argentina, Egypt, Lebanon were seen as different. White people, mainly the rich, straight, powerful, heteronormative cisgender men and trophy wives feel they are entitled and self-righteous. It has always been this way which is melancholy and infuriating that certain white people are seen as they real citizens. Asians and all other races are still being bashed for where they come from, and how they look, speak, dress, practice. Even if they assimilate the still won’t fit in. No one should have to change who they are for another group of people. Most americans are racist and xenophobic because they are taught to hate and still do so, only a few see how wrong it is. You would also be discriminated for more if say your religion, physical appearance, able bodied, weight, facial features and skin. Even you mentally. The more different you are the more cruelly you are ridiculed. Many Japanese people are referred to as Japs. They were thrown into camps. They had to do as the white man told or they would go to jail for 20 years. They had to live their life to the white man’s accord. It’s sickening.

Citizenship today, American is suppose to be the land of the free and the home of the brave, some people have rights but are still treated oddly. Immigrants are being told go back to your country. Hispanics detained and deported by ICE. Black people being shot by police. Asians being blamed for the pandemic. Muslims being accused of terrorism. No one is made to feel belonged here unless you are Eastern European white. French, German, English, even though white people discriminate against each other too, saying who has the best origins. Americans are suppose to feel like they can do anything in this world. But our corrupt and idiotic government and leaders want in to be like the 1960s here. These self proclaimed pioneers, wanting everyone to follow their words and actions. Having no shame for the harm they bring on other people, mainly the less fortunate. I feel welcome but ashamed of our country. I sometimes can’t go place without people looking at me like a gangster or criminal. I watched something about a gay filipino male lawyer in San Fran, who wrote BLM on his property only for two white people to come up to his face, telling him it’s not his and not to write that. The man had many cop and fireman friends who came to arrest, reprimand and mortify the racist, homophobic morons. This country should not be this way, I can’t blame people for hating America

According to the excerpt by Lopez, White by Law: The Legal Construction of Race, the criteria for citizenship required individuals to be “white,” to fit a classification established by generally accepted as “common knowledge,” which we now know as rooted in pseudo-scientific racial claims. However, it is really up to the whim of the Supreme Court, because after ruling against Ozawa, whose claim as “white” was based in part on the literal shade of his skin, the Supreme Court contradicted itself three months later so that it could rule against Thind. This time the court argued that according to the common man and the common knowledge, the anthropological definition of Caucasian is irrelevant; through ignorance the common man may exclude people with dark skin as not “Caucasian” and not “white.” Therefore only “white” people as defined by the Supreme Court were eligible for citizenship.

In the film, Meeting at Tule Lake, the criteria were the renunciation of citizenship of all other countries and loyalty to the Emperor of Japan. They must have absolute loyalty to the United States but were still refused citizenship. Agreeing to the questionnaire effectively forced them to become stateless indefinitely. If they answered no they were sent to Tule Lake, labelled as disloyal by both white Americans and other Japanese Americans. They could not refuse to answer the questionnaire or else the government would fine them $10,000 and imprison them for 20 years. They were also expected to serve in the armed forces. If the camps were created to identify spies and neutralize their threat, then forcing them to join the army contradicts the foundational purpose of the camps. Therefore Executive Order 9066 was not justified because “the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage,” but rather the mere stripping away of rights, “the right of any person to enter, remain in, or leave” the internment camps. The public fear of Japanese Americans, the animosity and desire to enforce control over them, to discriminate against Asian Americans, was the true motivation for the camps.

While legally the United States government recognizes the citizenship of people with the documents to prove it, socially if you are not white your citizenship is constantly challenged. For example, Kamala Harris is a citizen by law because she was born in California. Yet political opponents have targeted her as unfit for the office of Vice President, inventing a requirement that her parents had to be naturalized citizens at the time of her birth, highlighting her supposed foreignness because of her Jamaican and Indian parents. Therefore, they are really saying that she does not belong and is not part of America. I believe that living here peacefully, having a dedication to democracy, freedom, equality, and human rights, are what should be in the heart and soul of every American citizen.

In the reading, “Ozawa and Thind”, Lopez states “The Court’s eventual embrace of common knowledge confirms the falsity of natural notions of race, exposing race instead as a social product of measurable only in terms of what people believe” (Lopez, 80). Now this statement reiterates so much about the topic of race as a social construct. Race being only what people believed in was dangerous because at the time racists would use what they believed in to indoctrinate the superiority of white race over all other races. For that reason being, there was a specific criteria for citizenship. In Ozawa’s immigration aftermath, he viewed himself as an American by heart, not by name. To prove he was an American, he could not have any ties to his home country of Japan like their language, choice of marital partner, and Japanese organizations including schools, churches, etc. This goes all the way down to his kids as well. After submitting that application, Osawa was denied citizenship because he was of Japanese race/descent. This caused him to go to the highest court and fight to get his citizenship. The problem was he asserted he should not have been denied it because he is white skinned. Eventually the Court said he was not white. This shows me that the criteria for citizenship was to be white because in previous cases, each defendant tried to prove to the Court that they were white. Now they would not do this for any reason. At the time, whites were seen as the race that were accepted as Americans. I think citizenship today can be defined as the ability to conform and become accustomed to the standards of America and their views on being tied to a foreign country. I think every race can be a part of the U.S. if the U.S. was not so blinded by the past and the social constructs on race and the need to be white to be acknowledged as an American. To belong here, it means we are acknowledged and in ways where our every life decision is not compromised and judged based on the color of our skin or what people deem our race to be. In my own opinion, that should be the new definition of citizenship. Any person of any race that can come to America and respect America while embracing their home country without limits and consequences. 

 

In my reading and film this week, I learned about the criteria for citizenship. To be precise, I also heard that Americans are xenophobic. In comparison, the United States treats European immigrants and immigrants from other regions except European immigrants with obvious differences. If you are a European immigrant, because your skin color is white. You may be assimilated in the American mind, but if you are not from Europe or your skin color is not white, you will never become a citizen. No matter how long you live in the United States. In other words, it is far easier for European whites to become citizens than other skin colors, and other immigrants will be required to test their loyalty.

For me, citizenship is an identity. It includes the contribution that the country needs to the society, such as tax payment, medical care, education, etc., which can be used in priority to foreigners. Military judges and others are regarded as part of the United States. They belong to those who serve the United States and put American interests first.

1.What I honestly realized about the reading & video I had to review was the fact that it actually reminded me of basically what still goes on in a day by day basis. So what do I mean by this? well it went on to show that if you’re not part of the caucasian race you will definitely be treated as an outsider. This leads to violence and of course racism which sadly still goes in till this day. One thing I did learn though was the fact that European immigrants actually had it easier than asians while trying to become citizens, in a way which made them feel privileged. On the other hand, there were precautions  taken when it came to Asians trying to become Citizens, such as forcing them to fill out a loyalty questionnaire. Unfortunately just because the United States was afraid of the foreign government, it lead to them being paranoid and treating other races as if they were a risk factor. I guess this is what lead to many other immigrants,  not just asians, trying to act the same way as the “usual” American behaves, which ended up starting a lot of argument and violence. For example Ozawa had to act like an American and prove he had no relations with any time of asian organization so that the court would actually take his side which is so unfortunate.

2. In this day and age I guess the definition of a citizenship in the United States is to be rich and caucasian. I say this because I realized if these two terms do not apply to you, you’re automatically treated different, by people, businesses, the police, and even Schools. A clear representation of this is just look at how cops treat minorities in less fortunate places, compared to the way cops treat other people In the suburbs. This is why I say, the more money you have, basically determines your position in the united states unfortunately. Personally I believe being a citizen should be defined as how hard working you are, not only for yourself & for your family but for the community. Does not matter the race or gender of which you are, everyone should be treated equally and given the same opportunities anyone else has. The world would consist of less violence and negativity if this was the case but sadly we have someone in charge who promotes the exact opposite of what I just described.

 

The readings and the film had a lot of similar content for U.S. citizenship.  In “Write by Law: The Legal Construction of Race”, Lopez explains how being white isn’t actually everything. Obama made valid points about why he should be a citizen. he stated that he had white skin, and that he was white and should be a citizen . The court came to a conclusion that his white skin wasn’t enough to prove him as white.I think anyone who lives here, works, and pay taxes should be considered a citizen. I feel as though race should not determine citizenship or whether if someone has immigrated from another country. Most importantly white should not be given more privilege. Everyone should be treated equally especially because people of all kinds are working here and paying taxes. If there was a prevention for becoming a citizen it would be if they committed any  federal or murder crimes.

I  learned that  the criteria for citizenship that it never favors POC and POC often have to prove themselves to be considered citizens in the US. In ‘Ozawa and Thind’, it is pretty clear that being white was the gold standard. The fact that Ozawa had to constantly fight over the fact that he isn’t ‘Caucasian’ in order to gain citizenship is pretty absurd. The fact that Ozawa had to assimilate himself fully into the American culture while detaching himself from his Japanese culture in order to prove his loyalty to America and gain citizenship is down right ridiculous. Also Lopez says “Japanese immigrants shared much in common with their European counterparts, yet every European immigrant group regardless of national origin, had the right of naturalization and precisely because they possessed it no matter how beleaguered they were.” Europeans had more privileges  to becoming citizens, and yet Asians had to fill out the loyalty questionnaire to show their loyalty to the U.S. Even though they say white Europeans had it easy, there was still plenty of prejudice for specific groups of European immigrants, like Irish, and Italian immigrants. I think anybody should be able to become a U.S. citizen, unless they committed any  federal or murder crimes. All that really matters is to just live here and abide by the laws. If you live, work, and pay taxes here, you’re just as American as someone whose family has been here for 5 generations. Obviously skin color is not something that matters whatsoever and should never matter anyways.

The readings and the film had similar criteria for U.S. citizenship. The common factor for both was really that you had to be a white person. But being a white person wasn’t exactly set in stone. In “Write by Law: The Legal Construction of Race”, Lopez explains how being “white” isn’t something that is concrete. The law had made It that white people were those who were classified as Caucasian because of Ozawa’s defense for his right to be an American citizen. Ozawa made many valid points as to why he should be a citizen, but ultimately it came down to race. His defense was that he had white skin, therefore he was white and was owed citizenship. The court determined that his white skin wasn’t enough to classify him as white since his physical characteristics were not those of a white person. They then made the term “white” synonymous with the word “Caucasian” to combat the defense made by Ozawa and future Japanese people. The Thind came along and claimed that he deserved citizenship, as an Indian American, since Indians were classified as Caucasians. The court once again decided that although he was considered Caucasian, he too did not share the physical attributes that white people do. Therefore, making it that he was not deserving of American Citizenship. The biggest take away from this is that the criteria, during those times, to be an American citizen was to be a white person. Namely a person of European descent. The person also needed to look the part. It wasn’t enough just to share ancestry with Europeans. The criteria were created to benefit white people and only white people. The requirements were constantly altered to avoid having Asians become American citizens.

I believe what makes a person citizen today is totally different. It isn’t based solely on one’s skin color. To me, citizenship today is based on how long one has lived in this country. For example; I have a very good friend who is an undocumented immigrant. This is not his fault, but that of the system which still makes it extremely hard for immigrants to receive citizenship. I consider this man to be an American citizen. He has lived in the U.S. for all but 2 years of his life. He has no recollection of the country which he originally came from. He grew up in this country. He only went to school here. All of his friends he has met here and are mostly citizens themselves. He has never left the country since coming here, which is something I myself have done and I was born a citizen. He works here and has plans to continue living his life in this country. I believe all of this makes this man a citizen. I also believe that many others in this country are in similar situations, therefore making them citizens as well. I think those who want to make a living in this country and contribute to it in a positive should be and are considered citizens. To be a citizen of somewhere means that you are loyal to it. That you are here to improve yourself and continue to improve the land we love. I believe that although in the eyes of the law you are not a citizen, if you share these beliefs, then you too are a citizen. I think the definition of a citizen should be those who love this country, even if the love isn’t reciprocated by the country itself. I think it should mean that you are looking for ways to contribute to society and make it better for all.

• From the readings and film, what do we learn about the criteria for citizenship? Who was allowed to be a citizen or belong to the U.S. and what was required?

From the readings and film we have learned about the criteria for citizenship that it never favors POC, and POC often have to prove themselves to be considered citizens in the US.  Asian immigrants would have to prove their loyalty to the US, whereas European immigrants were easily able to gain citizenship. In ‘Ozawa and Thind’, Owaza had to assimilate himself fully into the American culture while detaching himself from his Japanese culture in order to prove his loyalty to America and gain citizenship.

• What do you think defines “citizenship” today– by this, I mean not just the legal definition but also the social definition. Who is considered to be a part of the U.S.? What does it mean to belong here? What should be the definition, in your opinion?

In my opinion I think anyone who lives here, works, pay taxes, abides by the laws should be considered a citizen, and race or ethnicity shouldn’t matter. Many people here do all of the above and aren’t able to gain citizenship, which I don’t think is fair at all.