Coming to America

A hand holding a small American flag

(Image credit: Studio One-One / Getty Images)

I feel like I owe some apologies. At the start of the week, this Englishman and his English wife stood in a room with a couple hundred strangers in downtown Manhattan and renounced all "allegiance and fidelity" to any foreign prince (sorry William), potentate (beg pardon Charles III), and state (forgive me Britannia) of which we had "heretofore been a subject or citizen." And after pledging to support and defend the Constitution and laws of the U.S. against all enemies, foreign and domestic, something magical happened: We became Americans. Now, outwardly expressing my joy at this metamorphosis was difficult, because a certain British stoicism — I believe the scientific term is "emotional stuntedness" — is encoded in my DNA. My natural impulse in such moments of wonder is to mutter, "Well, this is a lot of fuss about nothing," and then start talking nervously about scones or the weather. But as a newly minted American, I forced myself to enjoy the occasion, clap, and even, dare I admit it, let out a "Whoop!"

It was an event worth cheering. Few people ever get to decide their nationality; for most it's an accident of birth. But here was a room full of Britons, Russians, French, Dominicans, Chinese, Mexicans, and many other nationalities who'd spent years and sometimes decades working through the labyrinthine immigration system to become Americans. For many, dual citizenship was not an option. Naturalizing in the U.S. meant giving up citizenship in the country of their birth. That's a remarkable sacrifice, but also a testament to the promise of the U.S. While only 67 percent of Americans now say they are extremely or very proud of the U.S. — 23 points lower than in 2003 — many people from around the world still regard this as a nation where they can work toward a better life; a dynamic democracy that is far from perfect but, as Armenian-American historian Vartan Gregorian wrote, is perfectible. For this new American, at least, that's something to be proud of.