Ever since the pilgrims landed in America, America has always had an “us” and “them” mentality. Whether it be the pilgrims and the Indians, American citizens and the slaves, Americans and the Japanese, Americans and the illegal immigrants, Americans and the Arabs etc.. As a country that prides itself on being a melting pot mixed of all different cultures, its ironic we also always try to keep someone else out of our “inner group of citizens”.
After realizing this trend of exclusivity in America’s past I started to wonder if that is why citizenship in the United States is so valuable- because not everyone can have it. At the chance of sounding like a stereotypical girl, let me compare it to the Plastics in the movie Mean Girls. For those are you who have not seen the movie, the Plastics are the “cool” girls in high school. They’re the girls that everyone wants to be, the group that everyone wants to be apart of. This group of girls is so “elite” because not everyone can be apart of them, their classmates can’t even sit at the same table at lunch with them unless asked. After watching the movie you realize that the individual girls that make up the plastics are not what makes the group “cool”, but rather it’s the fact that not everyone can be a Plastic. This same idea of exclusivity exists with American citizenship.
If we look back to the days of slavery the ability to call yourself an American citizen had great value to it because a large part of the population, the slaves, was not able to. Not only were slaves not allowed to vote but they were not allowed to earn, which according to Shklar prevents them from being able to be classified as an American citizen. By keeping African Americans in slavery we successfully excluded them from citizenship. Additionally, even after we freed the slaves, thus giving them the ability to earn, they still were excluded from citizenship because they were still not permitted to vote (even though they had the right according to the 15th amendment) until the Voting Rights Act in 1960.
African Americans are not the only ethnicity that America has excluded from its inner circle. During WWII thousands of Japanese Americans citizens (they could vote and they were earning) were treated as traitors and placed in internment camps. Not only were they removed from their homes, forced to leave behind their belongings, and forced into cramp conditions, but these individuals also lost their standing as citizens in Shklar’s terms. While these American citizens technically had the right to vote they were physically unable to since they couldn’t leave the internment to return to their homes during the voting. Thus not only were these Japanese Americans physically excluded from society by being placed in their camps, but they were also excluded from the inner circle due to their loss of citizenship as standing.
Fast-forward now to today and there are thousands of illegal immigrants that are living in our country but are not classified as American citizens. These immigrants only meet one of Shklar’s requirements- they earn. They are the people who are working in the fields harvesting the fruits and vegetables we eat and taking the jobs that some people argue other Americans don’t want. They are successfully keeping America’s industry running, from the bottom level. However, since they cannot give their identity they are not able to vote. It is important for me to note that I am not advocating that illegal immigration is okay- I am only highlighting the fact that America always has a group of individuals that we leave out in society, even if we are benefiting from them.
There will always be those individuals that fall outside of the “inner circle” of citizenships because they don’t meet one of Shklar’s requirements of both earning and being able to vote. Whether it is the homeless, the unemployed, the stay at home mom, the students etc. America has always excluded some group in society as a way to give American citizenship value. After all just like the plastics, if everyone could be an American citizen, what would the value be? America will always be that “cool” group in high school that won’t let everyone sit with them.