Ron Bryant: To Be An American Citizen

It is time that Americans take a closer look at citizenship and what it means for the future of our nation.  Without a doubt, to become a citizen of the United States is to have one of the greatest honors that could ever be bestowed. It is to the country’s detriment that so many Americans take their citizenship so lightly.

For most of us, citizenship is taken for granted.  We were born here.  Under the Constitution we have an automatic right to claim citizenship due to an accident of birth.  Very few people would want that right taken away.  Although, we might be wise to emulate ancient Rome and place citizenship as such a high honor that none of us would ever take it for granted.

Citizenship means responsibility to the nation of which you are a citizen.  It means that we owe our country our respect, our devotion, and our loyalty.  For us to claim the right of being a citizen of the United States, much blood and treasure have been expended.  For us to enjoy the freedoms and privileges of American citizenship, our antecedents fought wars and endured untold hardships.

The American people must always maintain the privilege of being an American citizen.  We must never forget what it cost hundreds of thousands of Americans to purchase that privilege.  The blood of patriots flowed freely to ensure the right we have to call ourselves citizens.

It behooves the Americans of today to instill in their children the gravity of belonging to the greatest nation on earth.  The nation’s educational system has a responsibility to teach civics at every possible grade level.  If this is not done, the number of Americans who do not know how their government works or what the duties of a citizen mean to the welfare of the nation, will continue to grow at a rate that this country can ill afford.

As American citizens, we have the duty to defend our nation, promote our nation, and to improve our nation in any way possible under the Constitution.  “We the People” are just as responsible as any government leader to maintain the greatness of the United States of America.

Some people have argued that impressing the duties of citizenship on youths or adults is a form of brainwashing.  True citizenship requires the people of a nation to be ever vigilant in the protection of liberty, and to question the government if those liberties are threatened.  The United States is not Nazi Germany.  To say the Pledge of Allegiance is not an act that will lead to the formation of a fascist state.

Let us as Americans always be proud of the statement, “I am an American citizen.”  Let the world know that we take justifiable pride in saying so, and let our enemies know that we will always defend the privilege of being an American citizen.

Ron Bryant is a Kentuckian historian.