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Ron Jackson's Perspective
The Sunday Journal -
Think
Kankakee, Illinois
January 23, 2005
Iraqis' dual
allegiance in question |
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January 30 is
coming. It will be Election Day, a day of celebration in Iraq
and for some Iraqi-Americans, but for American-Americans, it’s just
another day. I have no interest in whether Iraq is either a
democratic or autocratic form of government. However, as an
American, our involvement there holds my attention.
Since voting represents one of the cornerstones of a
democratic government, January 30 will be an historic moment as some
Iraqis participate in their country’s first free election.
That is a big deal to the people who really care.
What is a big deal to me is the many thousands of
Iraqis, some who have become American citizens, living in America
who are registering to vote for the new leadership of Iraq.
That sends up a red, white and blue flag.
One of our nation’s boasting points is that immigrants
can come to America for a better life and opportunity while
maintaining their culture. Many of them eventually become
American citizens and are afforded the exact same rights, save for
the eligibility to become president, as natural-born citizens.
It’s troubling though when Iraqi-Americans who were allowed to vote
for George Bush back in November are now allowed to vote for the
Bush-backed regime in the country they left behind. This is
America, dag gummit. Pick one country and support it.
American-Americans can’t vote in the land of their
forefathers. We can only vote in America. Too many
American-Americans fought and died for the right to vote in this
country. Now we have American-Americans dying in Iraq for the
right for Iraqi-Americans to vote in two countries. This
sounds like one of Donald Rumsfeld’s “unknown knowns.”
Reading the accounts of the happy Iraqi-Americans
registering to vote in American cities of Chicago, Detroit, Los
Angeles, Nashville, and Washington, D.C., I pondered.
Thousands of Iraqis came here, found safe haven for their families,
and established themselves in communities. By all accounts,
they are as American as baseball without steroids, apple pie without
preservatives, and hot dogs without fat. They are free to
worship as they please, vote as they choose, and speak any language
they know.
I am not advocating that all immigrants come to this
country and wear blue jeans, FUBU sportswear, Nike shoes, or drive
SUVs, but why do they deserve rights above and beyond what
American-Americans have? We can’t vote in Iraq. The
1,400 plus American soldiers killed in Iraq can’t vote anywhere
anymore.
If you are an American, you
should only vote in American elections. Our history teaches us
that Americans have always died for the right to vote, the right for
American-Americans to vote in America. American-Americans only
get to vote for one candidate. It’s not fair that
Iraqi-Americans get to vote in two national elections.
When immigrants
become American citizens, they receive all the constitutional rights
like the rest of us. Therefore, they must also drop the dual
allegiance and carry only one voter registration card like the rest
of us.
One particular registrant, a 24-year old Chicago born
Iraqi-American, stated how important it was for Iraqi-Americans to
have a voice in the new Iraqi government. I submit to her that
her voice will be heard much easier if she would join the U.S.
military, replace one of our American-Americans in Iraq, and speak
volumes not only in her native tongue, but with a gun. |
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