The words "slave" and "slavery" do not appear in the original Constitution. In the famous three-fifths compromise, slaves are "other persons." Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816) did not approve of slavery and kept wordout. The Constitution of 1787 permitted Congress to ban the international slave trade after 1808. It also included a new "privileges and immunities clause in its Article IV, but it did not prohibit domestic slavery and slave trading and did not clarify if free blacks were citizens protected by the new "privileges and immunities" clause. The first Congress in 1790 took advantage of the specific constitutional empowerment and passes a naturalization statute. Very few free blacks came from Africa but after 1808 the international slave trade was indeed banned and immigration from Africa declined greatly. The naturalization statute required that the persons be "white" in order to be naturalized, provided that they had been in the United States for as little as two years 4(Raveinstein, E.G. "The Laws and Constitutional Journal of the Royal Statistics, 1889, p.301-241). Despite the prohibition, fifty thousand Africans who were taken as slaves were illegally imported from Africa and elsewhere in the New World after the 1807 prohibition. By 1820, there was debate over Missouri becoming a new State.
Privileges and immunities protect the right of northern free blacks to enter Missouri as citizens. These debates over whether blacks could be citizens continued up through the Dred Scott case where the Supreme Court said "no." This carried on through the Civil War and the post-war. At last the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments said "yes." The 13th amendment ended slavery, the 14th made African-American citizens, and the 15th guaranteed them the right to vote. By 1870, Africans were eligible for naturalization. Inspite of the eligibility to vote, equal citizenship was still a difficult hurdle for blacks 5(Maldwyn A. Jones, American Immigration (Chicago, 1960), p.65.).
From 1808 up until after 1965, there was little immigration of African-descended persons to the U.S. Some immigrants came chiefly from the Caribbean (like Marcus Garvey in 1916), and their numbers were not very many. Nonetheless they played huge roles in American history. Those Africans who were brought to the United States represented almost a third of all the black people then living in the Western Hemisphere 6(Franklin E. Frazier, The Negro Family in the United States (New York, 1916) p.60). The 1965 Act ended the national Origin Quota system and made it possible for more Africans to immigrate to the U.S. though still not in huge numbers.
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In 1962-1964, immigration reform was not the most pressing item on the agenda. The Congress took the matter of immigration up again after the 1964 election campaign. The debate in Congress at the time was on how to change the national origins system that President Kennedy had proposed. The basic thrust of the proposal was to scrap the national origins and substitute in its place visa issues.
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The fallacy of the law was the belief that the law would benefit the large number of European immigrants who already qualified and were able to come to America. However, the 1965 law has not worked out as it was expected. Two major adjustments were written after 1965. One was the Refugee Act of 1980 and the other was the Immigration Reform Act of 1986. In this day and age, times have changed and immigration has retained its central position on the American agenda.
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The experience of African immigrants and citizenship tends to set political bells ringing in the ears of all immigrants, not just African immigrants. The objective legal criteria for immigrants becoming citizens have not changed much over the years, except that race and ethnicity restrictions have been replaced by national quotas. To qualify, an applicant must have lived in this country as a permanent resident--the requirement now is at least five years-and have no criminal record or affiliation with any organization that advocates the violent overthrow of the government.
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In the first century after independence, the naturalization process emphasized a loyalty test in which new citizens had to demonstrate their "allegiance to the constitution," and, later, "their attachment to the principles of the constitution." There have been a variety of different tests used, but since 1986, the Immigration Service has relied on a set of 100 possible history and civics questions as the guidelines for those who give citizenship interviews. The test questions cover basics like the structure of the federal government, the cause of the Civil War, the content of the Bill of Rights, and the name of the building where the President lives. Other possible questions include the name of the applicant's Governor, the number of stripes on the flag and the name of the first President.
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For an immigrant, the status of citizenship is a solemn benchmark, a rebirth that comes with the change in our lives producing significant transition. For Africans, it introduces a new set of culture, freedom, liberty, dreams, and opportunities. These dreams have become reality, particularly in the fields of literature, politics, sports and, most recently, in the American military. For example, General Colin Powell, who in 1989 became the first black Chairman of the Joint chiefs of Staff, is the son of Jamaican parents. However, more still needs to be done. Unequal treatment still permeates our society. We need to eliminate such behavior in order to have a "just" society for all, so that all citizens can connect to America.
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Adeniyi Adeola, an African immigrant who came to the United States with two suitcases and $2,000, celebrated last Fourth of July. He claimed that being a citizen of the U.S.A. is a way to fit in, to join in the annual rites and rhythms of his new found land. Only a few years ago, he never thought of living in the United States, let alone celebrating America's independence. He now appreciates his freedom and opportunities.
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Following are fifteen of the 100 history and civics questions that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has used in its citizenship interviews since 1986. Interviewers can use some or all of the 100 questions, and have wide discretion in phrasing the questions and deciding who passes.
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1. What are the colors of our flag?
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2. What is the Constitution?
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3. What do the stripes on the flag mean?
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4. What are the duties of Congress?
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5. How many Senators are there in Congress?
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6. What Immigration and Naturalization Service form is used to apply to become a naturalized citizen?
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7. Who helped the pilgrims in America?
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8. Which President freed the slaves?
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9. What is the Introduction to the Constitution called?
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10. Name one benefit of becoming a citizen of the United States.
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11. What are the 49th and 50th States of the Union?
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12. In what year was the Constitution written?
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13. How many changes or amendments are there to the Constitution?
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14. Who is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?
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15. Who said, "Give me liberty or give me death"?
The truth is that the new African immigrants who study for the test know how government works. But in view of some African immigrants, the questions do not constitute a test of relevant or meaningful knowledge. Some claim that it does not test for understanding. There is no cohesiveness about the questions that lets the interviewer know that the person understands what it means to be a citizen in this country. Assessing proficiency in what is called "ordinary English" can be the most arbitrary part of the interview. For about one-third of those who fail the citizenship test, the language problem is the reason. "Ordinary," in my view, is ordinary life, and, generally, immigrants' main means of communication is through speaking. They are not given adequate opportunities to read and write in English. I feel that it is important that more English-training resources be made available so that immigrants can learn enough English to fully participate in all aspects of civic life. However, I'm not sure that the language standard is a fair one when it comes to citizenship. The fact is, we do not hold a high standard of language for those who are already citizens.
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Most African immigrants can quickly integrate into mainstream American life. We expect them to learn English and they do. We expect them to participate in politics and they do. So one could probably make a case, in terms of social trends, that the citizenship test hardly matters. But the naturalization exam has a value beyond its content. I think it has virtue-the virtue of solemnification, of rebirth that comes with change of status.
