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News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

A test for Americans

This hardly seems fair:

A study hint for immigrants preparing to take the citizenship test in 2008: Stop worrying so much about names and dates and start thinking conceptually about what it means to be an American.

The U.S. government announced Thursday that it was redesigning the test to put less emphasis on memorizing facts and more weight on understanding the nation's history and government.

"Our goal is to inspire immigrants to learn about the civic values of this nation so that after they take the oath of citizenship they will participate fully in our great democracy,"said Emilio Gonzalez, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

How many native-born Americans know or care about the "civic values" of this nation? This new test means that, in 2008, if you meet someone the street and ask him what the meaning of America is, and get a good answer, you will be talking to one of the 800,000 immigrants who come here legally each year. An illegal immigrant would say, "This is where the money is," and a U.S.-born citizen would just stare at you blankly.

Posted in: Uncategorized

Comments

Laura
Sat, 12/02/2006 - 6:16am

That is ignorance to think that most Americans do not know or care what it means to live in America!! First and foremost to me it means Freedom and I am sure the majority of Americans believe the same way. Next you will be saying that they don't need to learn English either.

Steve Towsley
Sun, 12/03/2006 - 12:14pm

I'd color this a little differently, maybe. I'm sure that most legal immigrants do have a keen and fresh appreciation of American principles and a real desire to participate by the time they place their hands over their hearts.

As for natural-born Americans themselves, I think we have accumulated understandings of our own civic principles, though we don't take tests to confirm their accuracy very often. I'm guessing most blank stares would come from the younger generation's partiers, the kind of folks who appear on Leno's "Jay-walking" segments.

Based on long observation it does seem to me that conservatives have a fundamental understanding that Americans have civil rights, gun rights, religious freedom, separation of church and state, and so on.

Liberals, on the other hand, strike me as being conditioned to put all their chips on about 50% of the First Amendment alone, and being unable to enjoy most of the rest of their homeland's founding principles.

Californians, for example, seem to me "self-exiled in principle," fighting much of what the rest of the USA holds dear and legislating against it all, insofar as they can do so and remain a state of the union. If I'm overstating their condition, it's not by much.

If conservatives and liberals really are two cultures, it's not hard to determine which group is the fish out of water.

Immigrants legal or otherwise are going to be faced with the same lessons about the underpinnings of America.

Jarrett Ivey
Tue, 12/05/2006 - 7:58pm

Thank you for not saying "democrats and republicans"! This is an issue about ideology and not partisan drivel. Conservatives AND liberals claim to believe in the stated fundamental rights - obviously (in the eyes of the educated person) to different degrees, as well as for different reasons. Both are publicly critical of the other's beliefs, all the while acting hypocritically within their own - especially where money is involved.

Unfortunately for liberals, conservatives tend to call for more rules upon the people (citing the preservation of "traditions"). This can oftentimes lead to one-sided "moral" legislation (which can easily display heavy religious or ethnic undertones); memorizing the dates of events,and the names of our nation's heroes is a traditional and effective method of instilling a sense of our country.

Like-wisely unfortunate for conservatives is that liberals tend to call for more rules upon the government (clamoring for rapid "progress" for society). Social programs multiply exponentially, the Constitution is pondered in a more modern sense with the realization that it was written for a time which is forever gone and was written by imperfect men who held different and archaic views on many issues we take for granted (i.e. religious freedom, gun rights, slavery).

Laura seems to write from a viewpoint that that most Americans actually spend their own time to ponder the meaning of the hackneyed mantra of "freedom" beyond their high school government and history classes. I admit that Americans, as more and more attend (and manage to graduate) from college, do contemplate the concepts of freedom and liberty.

Laura's statement "sure most Americans think the same way [about the issue]" suggests an assumptive and skewed, albeit common perception of the nation as a whole. I suggest she neutrally and rationally research the various sides of the immigration issue and its intricate web of problems (i.e. making immigrants learn English, taking jobs away from legal citizens, etc...). All immigrants should learn English if they expect to better themselves culturally and financially, which is what they came here to do. However, once they arrive and experience the general condescending attitude aimed toward them from many of our citizens, many shy away from the task of learning our (very, VERY difficult) language. One cannot fault a person for honestly trying to make it in the modern world - a world of which America is only a part. One cannot get anywhere in life without "civic values"; the knowledge of a potential home's traditions and history (dates, events, facts) can only further one's distinction within society...whether one is a natural-born citizen or immigrant.

Honestly, let them change the test. Combine the two. That much seems obvious to me - and I'm psychotic.

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