The Rules Can Be Changed Ya Know
I consider myself to be an American. An Asian-American sure, but still an American nonetheless.
However, I cannot ever become president of the United States.
I hold US citizenship. I did my whole K-12 and post-secondary education in the US public education system. I hold a (now expired oops gotta fix that) US passport as well as a Washington State Driver’s License. I have signed up for the military draft and have even done my civic duty and voted in the last presidential election.
However, I cannot ever become president of the United States.
And this is because of Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the US Constitution which reads:
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
And it’s that first clause that stops me. See, I was born in Canada, in the province of Ontario. My dad was getting his Ph.D. and doing his post-doc at the time. Then about 1.5 years later, my entire family moved the Richland, Washington for my dad’s new job and we have resided there ever since. But because I was born in Canada to Canadian citizens, there is no way that I could ever be counted as a natural born citizen.
I think that’s absolute bs. I have spent the vast majority of my life in this country and plan to spend the rest of it here as well. I hold valid citizenship and perform my civic duties as I mentioned earlier. So why don’t I count? Why do we still have this rule in place?
We call America a melting pot of cultures and people. But when looking for our next ruler, one clause automatically makes that pot much smaller and much less diverse. And I get it, we want someone who actually knows about this country and how it works to be its leader. But again, I literally have spent so much of my life here that I consider myself American. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME? A BLOOD SACRIFICE OR SOMETHING? BECAUSE THERE’S LITERALLY NOTHING I CAN DO TO EVER MAKE MYSELF QUALIFIED TO RUN.
We like to hold the Constitution in incredibly high regard. But we have to remember, this was a document initially created and signed by a bunch of older white men where some still owned slaves. The times have changed or are still changing. We don’t have to treat this document like the word of God itself and believe that it is the end all be all. WE CAN CHANGE THE DANG DOCUMENT IF WE WANT.
So why don’t we? Why not let anyone who is a citizen be eligible to run for this seat? If anything, people who have to go through the process of becoming a US citizen may know more about the country than some natural born citizens. That’s just the truth. Try a citizenship test. That can be a fun group event at your next hangout.
As much as I gripe and rant about this country, it still means a lot to me. I was raised here. My memories and connections are all tied to people and places in this country. One of my future goals is to become a teacher in this country’s education system.
So please, change this rule.
