At the beginning of the twentieth century in the United States discussion on cultural pluralism has involved the topic of cultural citizenship. There were at least 3 remarkable conversions since that time, such as multiculturalism and the mainstreaming of difference and also after civil rights movements, which occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, there were efforts to preserve mainly European immigrant cultures vis-à-vis the state. American democratic citizenship was given voice due to these politics of difference, never intending to destabilize the authority of the nation-state or its ideology. Race discourses in the United States of America were greatly emphasized in terms of multiculturalism at the end of twentieth century, so the notion of cultural citizenship has been developed in the 1980s, thus, examining cultural creation, the socio-cultural identity and political will mostly of Latinos in America. In the late 1980s Renato Rosaldo used this term for making higher education institutions more democratic through diversification in society, classroom, decision-making and curricula. For examining civic participation of Latinos in the negotiating, voicing and claiming of cultural space, this concept was used in the 1980s and 1990s. (Miguel Melendez 134-184) As an alternative medium to deepen the meanings of political and social membership, to demand recognition and expand entitlements, Latinos have presented the claims of cultural citizenship given that they, as U.S. citizens, were suspected as a potential menace to national unity instead of reaping the purportedly universal benefits afforded by citizenship. For simultaneously addressing the racialized subjugation of both non-citizen and citizen Latinos the cultural citizenship perspective has important potential advantages. The notion that America must be made up of one bounded territory, within which citizens have one culture and speak one language, is often refuted by Latinas/os, alongside other groups. They claim their right to be full members of society, at the same time implementing everyday cultural practices. There is a seeming paradox in American cultural citizenship: simultaneously people claim to the right to be a first-class citizen and to one's cultural difference. Cultural citizenship asserts that even in contexts of inequality people has a right to their distinctive heritage, rather than accepting the dominant ideology that posits difference as a sign of inferiority or a stigma. (Nicholas De Genova et al 2-13)
One of important cultural citizenship’s protections in the United States is the 14th Amendment, which has been a base for rulings in cases ranging from marriage equality to search and seizure protections and which allows a person to be able to claim citizenship in this great nation. People, who are born or naturalized in the United States without distinction of color, must be granted citizenship that allows applying all of the rights and privileges of the constitution to these people. Being an essential and enduring instrument to protect and secure racial justice, the Fourteenth Amendment is used to challenge attacks on the right to vote for voters of color, primarily Latinos, in various states. It is also applied by Latin American students for challenging to school discipline policies. Because of the increased number of immigrants in the United States, the 14th Amendment has been the topic of many recent debates. Some representatives of state power have an attempt to undermine the citizenship of the children of immigrants, predominantly Latinos, thus depriving all communities of color of critical protection. In my opinion, this change may lead to racial injustice in American society. (Amy Kraemer 1-5)
Works Cited
Nicholas De Genova& Ana Y. Ramos-Zayas. "Latino Racial Formations in the United States: An Introduction." 2003, The Journal of Latin American Anthropology. Print
Miguel Melendez. "We took the streets: fighting for Latino rights with the young lords." 2003, St. Martin’s Press. Print
Amy Kraemer. "The Fourteenth Amendment - Rights Guaranteed by Citizenship." 2015. Availableat:https://www.avc.edu/sites/default/files/news/Kraemer%20Constitution%20Day%20Essay.pdf
