Tell Him You’re An American!

A True Story About Bigoted Nativism

The official flag of American Samoa

By Pamela Hilliard Owens

Quite a while ago, when I was in graduate school at Eastern Michigan University, I was in one of those classes where the professor comes to class the first day, puts the students in groups, passes out the syllabus, and then “disappears” until the midterms. Raise your hand if you had one of those classes…

During the first class, all of the students were seated in a big circle. The professor went around the room, student-by-student, introducing himself, and sort of inquiring about each student.

While he was making the rounds, we had the opportunity to chat with and get to know the people other either side of us. The student on my left was from American Samoa. We talked about “regular stuff” and why he came so far to go to school. (Turns out, the university was one of the few to offer a degree in his chosen industry.)

My new friend, being AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) of course had Asian-looking features, whatever those are. When the professor got to him, he asked: “And what nationality are you?” My friend was kinda shocked, so I spoke up for him. Actually, I shouted: “TELL HIM YOU’RE AN AMERICAN!” Now it was the professor’s turn to be shocked. Duh. The island is called “American” Samoa for a reason…

I was next, and the professor just gave me a half-smile and kept going. I guess he wouldn’t have dared to ask me my nationality! 

Facts: American Samoans are Technically Not BORN with U.S. Citizenship

Something told me to do a little research as I continued writing this article, I found out that American Samoa is the only U.S. territory that does not confer automatic American citizenship at birth (unless one of the parents is already a native-born or naturalized American citizen).

I was actually looking for the flag for American Samoa when I read this information from Wikipedia:

“According to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the people born in American Samoa—including those born on Swains Island—are "nationals but not citizens of the United States at birth". If a child is born on any of these islands to any U.S. citizen, then that child is considered a national and a citizen of the United States at birth. All U.S. nationals have statutory rights to reside in all parts of the United States and may apply for citizenship by naturalization after three months of residency by paying a fee, passing a test in English and civics, and taking an oath of allegiance to the United States. All U.S. nationals also have the right to work in the United States, except in certain government jobs that specifically require U.S. citizenship.”

We are ALL Americans and ALL of us can vote in the U.S. Presidential Elections

You may remember back in 2008, just before the election, when then-Senator Obama stated that there were 56 jurisdictions that can vote for president. The “haters” (especially those who did not graduate from Columbia and Harvard and/or spend years as a constitutional scholar and professor) immediately jumped on that statement and wrongly believed that Mr. Obama was stupid because he said there were “56 states.” 

No, that’s not what he said. He said there were 56 U.S. jurisdictions that vote in the presidential elections, and of course, he was right. In addition to the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the three territories (American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), and the two commonwealths (Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands) also vote in the U.S. presidential elections. 50 + 1 + 3 + 2 = 56! How about that?

A few years ago, a native of Puerto Rico was arrested in Chicago and threatened with “deportation” back to Puerto Rico. Sigh

Watch this space for future articles about the American educational system…

Whenever I hear about someone trying to decide on their own who is a real American based on the person’s race, national origin, or even on just how they “look,” etc. I think about my friend in that graduate school class. Anyone born or naturalized in any of the 56 jurisdictions of the United States is an American.