Are you in favor of having a civics test at naturalization for future U.S. citizens? If so, what pur

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ANSWER

Civics Test

I do not support civics test because they act as a tool for discrimination against long-term residents who are noncitizens. The test introduces a narrative of difference between existing citizens and the newcomers. Some people claim that a civics test is necessary to ensure that the culture and history of the country is preserved, especially during the era of immigration, but that does not seem right. We are all immigrants in this nation. Our ancestors were once immigrants, and they did not take tests to be accepted as the citizens of this nation. Civics tests do not protect the nation. Rather they prevent noncitizens who live in the country from practising their responsibilities and exercising rights in the one place they call home.

Think of it from this perspective, a noncitizen who does not pass the test is denied the right to exercise their rights and branded a bad citizen, while there are citizens who cannot pass the test but freely exercise their rights in the same country. It is discriminatory to judge the patriotism of a person through a test. There are noncitizens who pay their taxes and contribute to the communities where they reside and are better citizens than the actual citizens who have citizenship. We claim to have a liberal democratic government, but the idea of the same government exercising their authority in defining a ‘good citizen’ seems narrow and nationalistic.  There is nothing wrong with the government asking for its citizens to understand the history and culture of the nation, but it is also not right to judge whether one is a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ citizen through a test. Some people are bad test takers, and we could be pushing way good resourceful people using the tests.