People who seek to become U.S. citizens must study 100 facts about our country’s history and government. An officer poses 10 of the 100 questions to those going through the naturalization process, and the applicants must give their answers orally.
The questions are neither deceptive nor incredibly complicated. Rather, they are a reminder of the best parts of our representative democracy.
Last month, 27 immigrants from 21 countries became U.S. citizens at Bangor’s U.S. District Court. Their family members waved little American flags and snapped photos with their cell phone cameras. There was music.
The celebration was a welcome break from news of political divisiveness and hate, and gave us a chance to remember the principles that make our country go.
“What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?” asks one question that could appear on the naturalization test. The practice test answer has a long explanation that starts, “Democracy only works when people are active in the government,” before explaining more.
Voting is one of the best ways to participate, it states, but people can also call or write to their representatives, join a civic or community group, help with an election campaign, write a letter to a newspaper, choose to run for office or — one we particularly appreciate — simply share their opinion.
These are good points to live by.
The test also asks this question: “What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?” He led thousands in nonviolent protests — which he believed was a more powerful approach than violence — to fight for civil rights and equality. The fight to protect people came with great personal sacrifices.
The work continues today. “Protest is always confrontation; protest isn’t always physical,” DeRay Mckesson, a civil rights activist and graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, told the Los Angeles Times after a white police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, in Ferguson, Missouri.
Another test question: “What is freedom of religion?” It is the right to choose to practice a religion. It is the right to choose not to practice a religion. The freedom is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
That means policies or laws that treat people differently because of their religion are unconstitutional.
“Why does the flag have 50 stars?” At first the United States had 13 states, after independence from Great Britain. “Then, the United States grew,” reads the answer. “Many immigrants came from around the world. The country grew bigger. The borders expanded.”
The flag has stars for all the states — built by people from other states and countries.
“What is one reason colonists came to America?” One reason, of course, was political liberty. They also sought economic independence and religious freedom and to escape from war — all important reminders for us today.
These citizenship questions and answers show how the U.S. seeks to represent itself to newcomers. What’s left is for the country to live up to its own standards.
