Chester Himes once wrote:
Racism introduces absurdity into the human condition…If one lives in a country where racism is held valid and practiced in all ways of life, eventually, no matter whether one is a racist or a victim, one comes to feel the absurdity of life.
In 2021, we created the May 19 Project during AANHPI Heritage Month to tell our stories of solidarity, the thing that can stop absurdity in its tracks. Right now it feels especially important to retell the story of Frederick Douglass and Wong Kim Ark and their fight for Birthright Citizenship.
Solidarity is about Frederick Douglass standing up for Asians during a time when the U.S. wanted to ensure they and their children could never become Americans.
Solidarity is Wong Kim Ark’s 1898 Supreme Court victory — drawing upon the 14th Amendment — and affirming the right of children of migrants, immigrants, and refugees to be full citizens.
The impact of his case cannot be overstated. If you are a non-Native born in the U.S., consider that it may be the reason you are a citizen.
But today, those born in colonized American Sāmoa can serve in the army but not become citizens.
If colonization is the wrong reason some of us are American, birthright citizenship has been one of the right ones — the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was a key victory in the centuries-long fight against white supremacy and racial capitalism. The full rights of citizenship must be extended to all who are here, whatever the reason.
Yet now the Trump administration is attacking the fundamental right of birthright citizenship for all.
On his first day in office, President Trump attempted to overturn birthright citizenship by executive order – a clear demonstration both of his utter disdain for the Constitution and his hostility to the balance of powers.
Trump’s order targets children of immigrants who are undocumented or temporary visa holders. Under this order, Kamala Harris, Bruce Lee, and countless others — maybe some people you know — could have had their citizenship questioned and revoked.
The legal theory Trump is using is the same one that justified the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, the same one now derided by the overwhelming majority of legal scholars on both left and right as mistaken, extremist, and dangerous — that all non-white Americans are presumed to serve their allegiance to another country. Even if they were born here.
Of course that sounds absurd. That’s white supremacy.
But remember that a large majority of the Japanese Americans who were incarcerated were born in the U.S. And that they were then subjected to filling out loyalty oaths.
Next week, the Supreme Court will begin to hear oral arguments to overturn the injunctions issued by three different district court judges against Trump’s executive order. The Department of Justice, perhaps understanding how beyond the pale their arguments are, is not asking the Court to rule on who gets to be American.
They are essentially asking the Court to let the states decide — an adaptation of their approach to overturning Roe V. Wade. One version of victory would have the 28 Republican-controlled states might be able to enforce the Trump order, while the others — the 22 states and Washington D.C. who have joined to stop the order — might not.
Of course that sounds absurd. You know the rest.
But let’s be clear that if Trump is successful in undoing birthright citizenship in any way, they could soon expand the list of those to be excluded, creating new categories of those deemed “un-American” or less than American. If they can revoke citizenship for some of us, they will not stop until they have stripped the life from most of us.
You can see all our stories of solidarity here at kcet.org/may19.
Video Credits
Jun Stinson - Director/Producer
Leah Nichols - Animator
Michaelle Stikich McGaraghan - Editor
Tijana Petrović - Director of Photography
Hannah Joo - Researcher
Renee Tajima-Peña - Executive Producer
Jeff Chang - Executive Producer
Maz Ali - Interviewee
Sita Bhaumik - Interviewee
Maria Termanini - Interviewee
Maz Ali - Stills
Equally American- Stills
Sita Bhaumik - Stills
Albert Cheng - Stills
Natasha Florentino - Stills
Tuakuturua Hijarunguru - Stills
S. Nadia Hussain - Stills
Kimberly Mejía-Cuéllar - Stills
Alex Mitchell - Stills
Gabriel Tajima-Peña - Stills
Maria Termanini - Stills
Thank you Harry Franqui-Rivera for the researchTHE MAY 19 PROJECT TEAMRenee Tajima-Peña • Jeff Chang • Janet Chen • Kana Hammon • Eurie Chung • Annie To • Rebecca Shea • Karin Chan • Hannah Joo • Diana Khong • Hannarei Kinsey • Gwen Phagnasay Le • Teja Foster
Thank you Wondros, Otherwise, Get Social with Teja
See Us Unite was created by a coalition of nonprofits including The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), the Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, The Henry Luce Foundation and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation in service of solidarity with the AAPI Community.Thank you to our partners: A-Doc, For Freedoms, Harness, UCLA Asian American Studies Center, Bruce Lee Foundation, Henry Luce Foundation. MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Wallace H Coulter Foundation, Asian Pacific Fund, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Stop AAPI Hate, The Asian American Education Project, AAPIP.org, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, Chinese for Affirmative Action
Generously funded by TAAF, Ford Foundation, Levi Strauss Foundation, Blue Shield of California Foundation, Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, The California Wellness Foundation, The California Endowment, Unbound Philanthropy, Pop Culture Collaborative, Eleveld Family Fund and the UCLA Asian American Studies Center
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