Episode 3

EPISODE 3

CITIZENSHIP. WHO ARE WE?

When the Founding Fathers declared independence from the British Empire, they were in essence saying we do not want to belong to you anymore. They sought to create a new country and a new government to oversee the 2.5 million people living in the 13 colonies. But half of those people were enslaved. Were they given citizenship in this new country?  So who really belonged in this new country? Even nowadays we ask ourselves, who truly counts in the United States and who gets counted? This week’s Your Kitchen Cabinet will explore the technicalities of citizenship, and notions of belonging in the United States and how those notions play out today with the recent citizenship question on the US Census. Moreover, we will explore times in our history when the legalities of citizenship were overshadowed with racism.

Experts: Kathy Masaoka, Co chair, Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress; Eric Foner, Professor Emeritus of History, Columbia University; Karen Ishizuka, Ph.D., writer, and chief curator, Japanese American National Museum

Resources:

Deck [download]

Resource List [download]

Case Study on Thind vs. US [download]