Definition of Citizen Essay

“In its first words on the subject of citizenship, Congress in 1790 restricted naturalization to “white persons.” Though the requirements for naturalization changed frequently thereafter, this racial prerequisite to citizenship endure for over a century and a half, remaining in force until 1952” (López, 1). As persons from other countries migrated to the United States and attempted to acquire citizenship, the question of whiteness, specifically who and why an individual was white, arose; “whether one was “white,” however, was often no easy question” (López, 1).

Citizenship can be defined as the position or status of being a citizen in a particular country (Oxford Dictionaries, 2016). This definition is not very broad, nor does it cover the many aspects of citizenship that exist in the 21st century. It is not only about being a legal citizen of a particular country, it is also about being a social citizen. You can be a citizen of Australia but choose to live elsewhere for the majority of your life. In terms of citizenship it is relevant on a political and social level. If you are actively contributing to the country in which you live in some ways you are fulfilling your duties as a citizen.

By exploring the true understanding of Rankine’s book we have to begin with understanding the title in connection with the content. Normally when one defines the term “citizen” it takes on a very political definition referring to the legal rights one is granted on being a part of a society. If one is a citizen of the United States for instance, they are granted all of the rights of citizenship like voting, taxes, etc. In the past when learning the term “citizen” in a history class, this is often the definition. But for Rankine by using Citizen as the title of a book about racial issues, she

America still believes in freedom and in being the land of opportunities even though time has changed some of America’s original ideals. Nowadays, becoming an American is not as simple as entering America and obtaining land. For example, there is the process of applying for citizenship, something that has now become a big part of defining an American. Hundreds of thousands of people per year apply for citizenship, yet not many people are granted the opportunity to become one. Anonymous shared their story online and said, “I never once thought immigration would affect me, until I realized that laws change and if you are just a resident here...you have no protection” (Defining American). Immigrants feel citizens have more rights than people who are just residents. An immigrant wanting to become a citizen must go through a variety of questions about the United States and what its founders had set as its ideals. Though, with patience, an immigrant can become an American within a

According to the Oxford dictionary the term citizenship can be defined as: “The state of being vested with the rights and privileges, and duties of a citizen.” In the short story ‘Borders’ by Thomas King the term citizenship is of main focus. Through the many borders that are presented within the story, King argues that citizenship overlooks culture and heritage, instead focusing on a single border: that being where the individual resides. The short story is narrated from the young boy’s perspective, as him and his mother struggle to cross the Canadian-American border to visit the young boy’s sister Latitia. The young boy and his mother are not able to cross the border

Jacobson spends a great deal of time analyzing the way in which ideas about citizenship played into changing perceptions about race and whiteness at the turn of the Twentieth Century. This is expressed in the constant evaluation of a given group’s “fitness for self-government” and how this concept was used to promote inferiority among particular “races” and thus maintain traditional power relations. Jacobson states that “citizenship and whiteness were conjoined,”(p.29) and in saying so he is commenting on the very foundations of the American power structure as it took on the task of deciding who would be entitled to the rights and privileges of being American. It is to this point that further discussion of gender is necessary. If citizenship is understood as being fundamentally connected to the right to participate in democracy then it must be noted that this right was systematically denied to women as well as non-whites at the turn of the Twentieth Century. Therefore to truly benefit from the privileges of American citizenship one need not only be white but also male, a reality that is not expressed in Jacobson’s analysis. By not including a further analysis on gender, Jacobson leaves the reader with the impression that race relations operated independent of gender relations, when in fact sexuality was deeply connected to the construction of racial identities. Jacobson

2. Define a citizen. Someone who is born in the U.S. or someone who goes through the naturalization process.

Over the course of the first century and a quarter of the history of the United States of America, what it means to be an American has been defined by a number of different documents. The authors of those documents have come from varied backgrounds all searching to find their place in the growth and development of this country. At the beginning of the nation, those authors came from the English tradition of what government should look like and what those who were looking to change that government should do. When the country experienced some early growing pains, many of those same people came together again to try and develop a new system of laws for the country. As the nation grew up, it also grew apart and faced arguably the most

Many of the United States’ ideas of citizenship and the relationship between the citizen and the state came from Rome and Athens.

Citizenship is defined as a being a citizen or a person owing allegiance to and entitled to the protection of a sovereign state. Citizen preferred for one owing allegiance to a state in which sovereign power is retained by the people and sharing in the political rights of those people. The concept of which in one of its earliest was given to us by the Romans, who had just began to understand the importance of a populace contributing to the decisions of its own fate. Modern American citizenship as we know it today was defined for us in the constitution of this nation by the founding fathers. Citizenship as they had envisioned it even back then was not free, but came with a price. A citizen was

Citizenship is not a recent idea, nor it is an ancient organization of society. The idea that the ordinary person should play a role in society emerged as citizenship, and the status, given by a government to some or all people, balances individual rights and individual responsibilities to aid the government. The most predominant form of early citizenship is in Athens and Rome, in which the people of a state are known as citizens as opposed to subjects, who populate the empires in Egypt, Babylon, and China. In spite of having a similar governing system, Rome and Athens are two drastically different civilizations; their differences not only stem from the drastic difference in their population number, but also from their ideals of life. However,

For several years, politicians and leaders have talked about and debated over immigrants living in the United States without the proper documentation that declare them a citizen of the States. Many of these immigrants have started families and lived in the United States for many years. Some of these immigrants were brought and raised in the United States as babies and have only known this country since a young age. In the dictionary a citizen is, “a native or naturalized person who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it” (“Citizen”). An enormous amount of immigrants considers themselves as citizens of the U.S. because they were raised on U.S. soil and not the country they were born from. However, politicians

So what does citizenship means to me? Is it just a piece of paper that says you are a citizen of a country or does it mean something more in a deeper level. When I was just a little boy my mother always talks about that when we move to the United States we should apply for citizenship immediately. As I was growing up here in the United States I slowly understand what citizenship means to me. Being a citizen for me is fulfilling my obligations toward my country, Living a lifestyle that benefits myself and my community and having good sense of patriotism.

Citizenship is highly coveted in many nations, so coveted in fact that through only a few processes can one become a citizen for most nations, might that process be natural birth or naturalization. Citizenship and its privileges were also highly valued in Rome, except becoming a citizen was extremely difficult if not impossible. Roman citizenship also leads to assassinations and war within the Italian peninsula. There is a complex history to Roman citizenship.

Being an active citizen is something that everyone in the United States is required to be, yet not everyone actually is one. Many people may believe that just voting is enough to be a good citizen, but voting is actually the least of their duties. Citizens have a set of rights and responsibilities, including the right to participate in decisions that affect public welfare. Being an active citizen means that people get involved in their local communities and democracy at all levels, from their town to nationwide activity. This can be volunteering to clean up the park or street, or educating students on democratic values, skills and participation. Active citizenship is a mixture of knowledge, attitude, skills and actions that aim to contribute to building and preserving a democratic society. When citizens speak up about problems in their communities, public officials take notice and may take action to answer their concerns, which empowers the citizens of the community.