Heather Knight:
Heartwarming ceremony soothes in vicious climate
Joy and pride among new citizens is contagious.
For Bay Area liberals who value action on climate change, cooperation with foreign countries, widely accessible health care and grammatically correct tweets, it can feel like an embarrassing time to be an American.
But there’s an antidote — an easy one.
Attend a naturalization ceremony. They happen at the Paramount Theater in Oakland every two or three weeks, and the sheer joy and pride among the brand-new American citizens is contagious.
They wave little American flags. They sing the national anthem. They watch a video in which a gospel singer croons “America the Beautiful” against a backdrop of photographs of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Statue of Liberty. And none of it’s cheesy, not even a little bit.
I had the honor of being the keynote speaker at a ceremony Wednesday. On the first floor of the big theater sat 1,232 citizens-to-be. In the balcony above sat their friends and relatives.
The immigrants came from countries ranging from A to Z — 11 from Afghanistan and one from Zambia. The biggest contingent, numbering 193, was from China, followed by India, the Philippines and Mexico.
In a political climate in which immigrants are often painted as threatening, and xenophobia casts a sad shadow over our national debate, this crowd couldn’t have been happier or more friendly. Some wore turbans, some wore hijabs, some wore goofy ties with American flags — all wore smiles.
“Being an American is an amazing opportunity,” said Anastacia Thumbi, beaming. The 29-year-old Antioch resident is from Kenya and works as a secretary. “Knowing you’re in a safe country, it means a lot.”
Maher Salloum, a 36-yearold biochemical engineer from Lebanon who now lives in Livermore, agreed.
“I’m very grateful to the people of the United States for the love they’ve shown and for the opportunities they offer us as immigrants,” he said. “The freedom and the liberty that we are allowed to have here is something very meaningful to us.”
My favorite part of the ceremony came when the 91 represented countries were called in alphabetical order. As their homeland was named, immigrants stood up and cheered. (The folks from El Salvador and Laos were short on numbers, but very big on enthusiasm.)
After everybody was standing, they swore their allegiance to the United States, and it was official. They were Americans.
Qualifying wasn’t easy. Each had to be: at least 18 years old; a green card holder; a legal, permanent resident for at least three years; “a person of good moral character”; able to speak and read English; and they had to know U.S. government and history. Last year, 752,800 immigrants became U.S. citizens. The recent high point was 1.04 million in 2008.
Some of us are wondering if our country’s best days are behind it, but the new citizens sure didn’t think so. Several said that presidents come and go, but the American dream holds steady.
“Every country goes through phases like this,” said Daniel Adams, a 46-year-old assistant professor of ophthalmology at UCSF who lives in Cole Valley. His own native country, Great Britain, is going through a strange phase, in the form of Brexit.
“It doesn’t have a lasting effect, and it doesn’t change what it means to be an American,” he continued, which sounded pretty reassuring coming from a professor.
President Trump, notably, wasn’t present on Wednesday in any form. When they were president, George W. Bush and Barack Obama filmed videos shown at naturalization ceremonies, but Trump hasn’t bothered.
At the voter registration tables that filled the sidewalks outside, a life-size cardboard Obama stood grinning. Several of the new Americans posed for photos with it.
“People like him better — what can I say?” said Harriet Lazer, a 65-year-old Pacific Heights resident who was registering voters and said there weren’t any plans to bring in a life-size Trump.
After each Oakland ceremony, between 100 and 200 of the new citizens register to vote. Usually, it’s a pretty even split between decline-to-state voters and Democratic voters. About three per ceremony register as Republicans.
Long after the ceremony was over, the after-party continued on the sidewalk and spilled into the street. Dean Smith proudly held his new citizenship certificate and wore a tie decorated with tiny American flags and Statues of Liberty.
“He hasn’t got his wedding tie yet, but he has his America tie,” joked his fiancee, Emily Greenberg. They’re getting married in August.
Smith, a 29-year-old native of Australia, said that during the ceremony he thought a lot about how hard it was moving from a foreign country 10 years ago.
“And I came from Australia — it’s very privileged,” he said. “I looked around and saw people from war-torn countries, and I imagined their stories. It was very emotional.”
The Russian Hill resident and tech worker said he’s glad he became a U.S. citizen, even if he doesn’t agree with the politics of its new leader.
“I did become nervous about pledging allegiance to the United States,” Smith said. “But I wanted a voice at the table. I don’t think we need spectators. We need players. I wanted to have some meat in the game.”
Some skin in the game? His fiancee said that despite living in the U.S. for a decade, he can’t get a handle on American phrases.
“I just make them up,” Smith said with a laugh before posing for pictures with a giant American flag.
Nearby, a fellow American, Murilo Dos Santos, was equally jubilant. The 35-year-old construction worker and surfboard shaper lives in Sebastopol. He said that as a boy growing up in Brazil, he always told his friends, “One day, I want to go to America!”
He did and now he has an American wife, an American newborn daughter and American citizenship.
“It looks like I did something right,” he said.
“The freedom and the liberty that we are allowed to have here is something very meaningful to us.” Maher Salloum, naturalized U.S. citizen