I would say that it is fairly common knowledge from perhaps the age ten and up that if you're born in the United States, you are by definition an American citizen, with every single right given to any other citizen. That is guaranteed by the United States Constitution. This is clearly stated in the first section of the fourteenth amendment. The first section of the fourteenth amendment basically restates the entire thesis of what is considered by many to be the very basis of our democracy: The Declaration of Independence. I would call it, as any other amendment, an integral part of what our nation stands for.
If you are a follower of the radical conservative media, you may have heard someone masquerading as a journalist say that they think the fourteenth amendment should be repealed. Worse yet, some feel that somehow our government is letting us down by not spinning this integral part of our constitution into something that satisfies their double-sided desires.
Now there are those who make the excuse that the purpose of this amendment was intended in a context relating to the Civil War. I see no difference whatsoever. There were citizens at the time of this amendment's passing who were against it because it meant that people of African descent would be given rights equal to theirs. Today, I feel as if there are citizens who are concerned that people of Hispanic descent would receive rights equal to the ones they have exercised for their entire lives.
Racism is racism. It existed in the times of the Civil War; it exists now. I can only hope that the people of our nation who have been twisted into believing that somehow the privileges they've received in their lifetime do not extend to others be soon able to realize that it is exactly this type of thinking that could have led to the possibility that they themselves would never have been United States citizens. Our nation is one of immigrants, who within a generation could call themselves American.
