All posts tagged: citizenship

Olympics: American family competes under Japanese and Georgian flags

Published by

Olympic contenders Allison, Cathy and Chris Reed are all siblings — but they are competing for two different countries. The Reed children were born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to a Japanese mother and a Nebraskan father. They all have dual-citizenships: United States and Japan. None of them are competing for the U.S. Olympic team. Allison, 15, found an ice dancing partner in Otar Japaridze, 22, a Georgian athlete. For them to compete, the Georgian government quickly ushered her citizenship application through. This February, she marched as a Georgian athlete in the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. She has never been to Georgia. For Allison’s siblings Cathy, 22, and Chris, 20, qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Team for ice dancing would’ve been very difficult. Instead, the two nabbed a spot on the Japanese Olympic team. According the New York Times, the siblings speak little Japanese, and their mother translates conversations between them and the Japanese skating federation. Making citizenship “work for you” is not uncommon in sports. I’ve seen Singapore poach athletes from other countries to have them win …

Haiti earthquake: why should citizenship matter?

Published by

In the wake of the Haiti earthquake crisis, the American Red Cross posted information about the U.S. State Department’s efforts in finding loved ones in the disaster zone. That’s where I saw this sentence: “Unfortunately at this time, inquiries to search for non-U.S. Citizens missing in Haiti are not being accepted.” I understand that with limited resources, it makes perfect sense for people to “help their own.” However, this statement is frustrating because I firmly believe that “citizenship” is a flawed way of defining a person’s identity or national ties, and should not used as a segregator — whether in disaster relief aid or other situations. “Citizenship” is a legal status that is easily manipulated. It is not an identity, it does not define a human being, and it should not be misconstrued as such. “What’s your citizenship?” as a substitute for “Who are you?” As TCKs, we know that equating citizenship with a person’s identity is flawed. Every day, people greet TCKs with questions such as “Where are you from?” or “What’s your citizenship?” …