Every time an election rolls around I am reminded of the first time I voted, in November 1992. I had only been naturalized as an American citizen the year before, so it was an exciting occasion.
I came to the U.S. from my native Greece in 1968 for college and ended up staying for graduate school. I knew that this was where I wanted to be. A few years of work permits were followed by permanent resident status, and in 1991 I was able to apply for naturalization.
After more than 20 years here, naturalization felt like a formality, which it was. But it was also a sea change in accepting my new identity.
I was one of about 50 new citizens sworn in that day. I had been asked by the office of the immigration judge who administered the oath to give a short speech about what it meant to become a U.S. citizen. My speech was unavoidably sentimental but also a genuine reflection of what I felt. My friends told me later that there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. That included me.
Here is the text from 33 years ago.
Your Honor, fellow new citizens, and dear friends,
I was asked to say a few words about what becoming an American citizen means to me. So here are my thoughts. I hope some of these will also be your thoughts, and that they will make sense to you.
Becoming an American citizen is a strange feeling. Choosing the country you will call home is something that most people never get to do. It takes courage to make such a big step, but it also takes a country willing to welcome you, to accept you as an equal citizen, to give you the opportunity to participate fully just like everyone else.
We all come from different backgrounds, we grew up speaking different languages, and we all carry different images within us, different memories, different dreams. None of that will change. We will still have the same images, the same memories, the same dreams as before. I can only speak for myself, but I know that my deepest dream is to see myself as a full member of my community, to participate, to help where help is needed. I have acted and thought as an American for many years. I have loved the language as if it were my own, I have loved the people of this country as my own people, and I have loved this land as if it were my own land. Starting today, this will in fact be my own language, the people will be my own people, this land will be my home.
And with that comes more responsibility. Somehow, living here but not being a citizen gave me the luxury to think that I was a little different, that I could always pack up and leave if things didn’t work out, that I could be part of this community but also sit on the outside if I wanted to.
I could always say I loved this country that has given me so much, that I felt part of it, but there was one thing I could never say: that I was an American. I could go to Washington, D.C., our nation’s capital, but I could not really call it “our” nation’s capital. Truth is, I didn’t know what to call it. It certainly wasn’t “their” nation’s capital, but it wasn’t “ours” either. Makes for a very confused identity, let me tell you.
But all that has now changed. From now on it is our nation’s capital, and if some things don’t work out, I can’t blame it on “them.” Instead, I can help, even vote now, to set things right. It will take a while for the change to sink in, and I’m looking forward to watching it all unfold.
So what do I love about this country? Three things: freedom, equality — and hope.
Freedom and the opportunity to be what I want to be, and to respect and applaud everyone’s courage and hard work in trying to do the same.
Equality: Very simply, the foundational idea that we are all created equal. Becoming a citizen is the ultimate proof of what that means. We are new citizens, and we will be accepted as full citizens by the people and the nation.
And, finally, hope that the future will always be better than the past. Always. Hope that being true to ourselves is a good thing, good for us, good for our families and our friends, good for the country, and that this country and the whole world will always be guided by the bright star of equality.
I will never forget my roots in Greece. But I will always be proud that I chose to be an American.
Joseph Pentheroudakis is a linguist and award-winning historical feature writer. He lives on Herron Island.
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