Citizen Rules

I love to read and research, and with the advent of the Technology Age I am totally in love with the idea of so much information at my fingertips. But I guess if you really want to learn and have complete knowledge, you need to read about the not so fun and cool stuff. I read the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. The text of the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act (43 U.S. Stats. At Large, Ch. 233, p. 253 (1924)) reads as follows: BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and house of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all non citizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States: Provided That the granting of such citizenship shall not in any manner impair or otherwise affect the right of any Indian to tribal or other property." Approved, June 2, 1924. June 2, 1924. [H. R. 6355.] [Public, No. 175.] SIXTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. CHS. 233. 1924. See House Report No. 222, Certificates of Citizenship to Indians, 68th Congress, 1st Session, Feb. 22, 1924. Note: This statute has been codified in the United States Code at Title 8, Sec. 1401(b). It boils down to, anyone born before June 2, 1924 was not considered a citizen of the United States of America, even if you were indigenous population born on American soil. That means my wonderful grandfather, Thomas Sagoonick, was not considered a U.S. Citizen for a time. That thought sucks. I don't know how that would of affected his life, I truly hope it did not. I had always known there were people who believed that any race but their own, typically of Eastern European decent, were beneath them or lacked what they considered intelligence. And they either took it upon themselves to 'better' the poor things or made the world a better place for themselves by segregation, or separating, these 'lowly' individuals from themselves. Hey, you are allowed to think and live as you please, you create the balance in your life and have to deal with your own decisions in the end. People will be people. I am thankful that there were people around who found that making this act into law was an important thing. I am also glad they revised and completely fixed the inadequacies of this Act and made the Immigration Naturalization Act of 1940 to include the indigenous peoples as complete citizens, basically regardless of of age. Those people and groups are to be commended on their hard work and finding a voice and sticking to it to make the intentions of our Founding Fathers into real reasoning. It is mind boggling to me that on my most deeply rooted side of my family tree, at one point my family was only considered a two generation American. Because of words on a paper, and points made by people who were deemed important at one time or another. You would think that my native heritage would of given me a firm foothold in this country, but it does not. At least legally, and on paper. Maybe if people behaved more like they would of when their mother was standing over their shoulder things would of been different. Maybe not. Who knows? But I know this, I think if the world learned to embrace more and not fear or hate, this little blue speck could get light years ahead.