From the Archives: Actress Tracey Ullman reflects on citizenship and equality at Monticello

Actress Tracey Ullman reflects on citizenship and equality at Monticello
July 4, 2010 4:28 PM MST

Tracey Ullman at Monticello, July 4, 2010

At the 48th annual Independence Day naturalization ceremony at Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello on July 4, the featured speaker was actress and comedienne Tracey Ullman, who has won seven Emmy Awards® for her work in television. Her self-named Fox-TV show of the 1980s introduced the world interstitially to The Simpsons.

Ullman is a dual British-American citizen. Born and raised in Slough, England, she has lived and worked in the United States for 25 years and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006.

In her remarks to the 71 immigrants from more than two dozen countries (from Afghanistan and Armenia to Uzbekistan and Vietnam), Ullman emphasized how her early impressions of America were those of “confidence,” that the American attitude was one of “if you want it, come and get it.”

After the ceremony, Ullman sat down for a one-on-one interview with the Charlottesville Libertarian Examiner, answering questions about citizenship, the American dream, and what she finds valuable in the American founding.

Subjects and Citizens
Noting that it was recently revealed that, in his draft of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote the word “subjects” and smudged it out so he could replace it with “citizens,” Ullman talked about the difference between “subject” and “citizen,” because she has been both.

She said she was pleased to learn about Jefferson’s editing, that “he changed it, that he moved on, that he made the change.”

“Yes,” she said, “I have been a subject and now a citizen and it’s interesting. I just think that we are equal. There’s no one better than us. We’re not paying people millions of pounds to be better than us,” as the British pay their royal family.

“I’ve never been a royalist,” Ullman explained, “and that [equality] is something that really appealed to me about America.”

Image of Confidence

When she was growing up as a girl in England, Ullman absorbed many images of America that she saw on television. What most impressed her, she said, “was the Olympics,” not only because American athletes won so many gold medals, but “it was the confidence,” they exhibited.

In addition, she said, “it was that ‘you can be anyone you want to be’” attitude and “kindness,” as well as “inspirational people like Lily Tomlin. I impersonated her at my school when I was like 10. I said, ‘I want to be Lily Tomlin. I want to be Gilda Radner.’”

Ullman joked that “our images of America were like Dallas, when I was a kid, like soap operas and things” but even so, when she first arrived in the United States at the age of 20, she was “very inspired.”

Citizenship Test
Since Ullman so recently went through the naturalization process, she spoke about the most surprising things she learned as she prepared for the citizenship test.

One was, she laughed, a question about two forms used by the immigration authorities, the N-200 and the N-400. That’s “a real question,” she said, and applicants had to know the difference between those forms. “I think they’ve dropped that one now, it’s a little obscure.”

She was most impressed, however, by the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence, which is why, she said, it is so inspiring “to be here, where Thomas Jefferson” lived. He was “so forward thinking,” for his time, Ullman remarked, and that is why she remembers “really being impressed with the words of the Founding Fathers, in particular Thomas Jefferson, who was just so enlightened and so brave and so incredible at that time and still holds up” today.

Publisher's note: This article was originally published on Examiner.com on July 4, 2010. The Examiner.com publishing platform was discontinued July 1, 2016, and its web site went dark on or about July 10, 2016.  I am republishing this piece in an effort to preserve it and all my other contributions to Examiner.com since April 6, 2010. It is reposted here without most of the internal links that were in the original.

Adnan Barqawi's Speech at the RPV Convention

All the buzz about the RPV convention, aside from general comments about the results of the voting (for those who haven't heard, Bob McDonnell is running for governor, Bill Bolling for lieutenant governor, and Ken Cuccinelli for attorney general), has been about the recent Virginia Tech graduate who gave the final formal speech to the delegates.

Adnan Barqawi became a U.S. citizen on April 17. Last fall, he became commander of the Corps of Cadets at Virginia Tech. He delivered a strong, heartfelt address on the meaning of citizenship and the values that Americans hold dear. (I liveblogged about his speech -- and the rest of the convention -- yesterday. His comments begin at "3:15 p.m." Or perhaps I should have said "1515" in military time.)

In style and substance, Barqawi outshone keynote speaker Sean Hannity and most of the politicians who crossed the stage on Saturday.

A typical comment on Barqawi's speech comes from Nick Howard at Tertium Quids:

Adnan Barqawi was the final speaker (other than acceptance speeches). Outstanding. Simply outstanding. The best speaker of the convention. I hope his speech is available on YouTube.

Nick's wish is granted. I uploaded video from Adnan Barqawi's speech just a few minutes ago to YouTube. Here it is, in two segments, divided by applause (and there was a lot of it -- the ovation at the end of the speech lasted for more than half a minute).

Part I:


Part II:

Political Brambles wrote of the speech:

This young man was an inspiration to all at the convention and brought the delegates to their feet cheering on three separate occasions. His address was inspirational and motivational. He is a new citizen of the United States and proud to be called an American.

AMCIT wrote on AMCIT's Weblog:

Watch him. Charismatic, good speaker, outstanding message. I had tears in my eyes. The man will go far.

Immediately, he’s about to head for the Mississippi Delta as part of the “Teachers for America” program. With a teacher carrying this message, our students will do well.

If I had an inkling all college students would hear and heed his message, I would never again worry about the future of our country.

If Adnan Barqawi returns to the Old Dominion from Mississippi, he will be a force to reckon with in Virginia politics. His vigorous delivery of what could have been an anodyne speech left the thousands of Republicans in attendance at the RPV convention with a sense of purpose, unity, and pride -- much needed qualities given the electoral losses of the past few years. Could we one day be inaugurating Governor Barqawi on the steps of Mr. Jefferson's Capitol?

Update: The full text of Adnan Barqari's remarks is now available on the Virginia GOP's web site.

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July 4th Report from Monticello

Today, being the Fourth of July, was marked at the home of Thomas Jefferson with Monticello's 45th annual Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony. Some 75 new American citizens, who came here from around the world, took the oath of citizenship from Judge James P. Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

It is customary for Monticello to host a distinguished speaker at these events. Previous speakers have included Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, author Frank McCourt, publisher Al Neuharth, and artists Christo and Jean-Claude. This year's speaker was an assistant district attorney from New York City -- or, more accurately, the actor who plays that attorney on TV, Oscar- and Emmy-nominee Sam Waterston, whose Scottish-born father was an immigrant to the United States.

I have pieced together some video excerpts from today's festivities. I reserve the right to replace these videos when I have a chance to do a better editing job.

In this 10-minute clip, the Charlottesville Municipal Band plays a march, John Charles Thomas reads the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, and Sam Waterston delivers some pointed remarks. (I have reduced Waterston's 22-minute speech to about 7 minutes. The full address may become available at the Monticello web site.)

The oath of citizenship was administered by Judge James P. Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. Certificates of citizenship were presented and new citizens were congratulated personally by Judge Jones and Mr. Waterston.

After all the new citizens had collected their naturalization certificates, Judge Jones opened the floor to comments. Two newly naturalized Americans rose to the occasion. Here is one of them, Ehonam Miheaye Agbati, an emigrant from Togo.

To close the ceremony, former Charlottesville Mayor Francis Fife, a veteran of World War II, led the new citizens and other Americans in the Pledge of Allegiance. A color guard from the Junior Air Force ROTC unit at Monticello High School in Albemarle County presented the U.S. and Virginia flags.

Happy Independence Day!

Morning at Monticello

As noted earlier, I had plans to attend the annual naturalization ceremony at Monticello this morning, which I did.

The ceremony, part of the Independence Day Exercises at the home of the author of the Declaration of Independence, featured artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude as speakers. (The tradition, though not always followed, is for immigrants to address the soon-to-be citizens. In this case, Christo came from Bulgaria and Jeanne-Claude from France before becoming naturalized Americans.)

As it happens, Jeanne-Claude did most of the talking, although both she and Christo stood at the podium. She began by saying she wanted to keep her remarks short, given the heat of the day. (It was, to be sure, hot and muggy under the sun on the mountaintop.) She noted the oddity that her husband and she shared the same birthday, though they were born in different countries and, she assured us, different mothers.

Jeanne-Claude also revealed that after Christo and she arrived in New York in 1964, they lived for three years as "illegal aliens." "Yes, they do exist," she said.

In pointing out many of the wonderful aspects of life in the United States, Jeanne-Claude said that sometimes you hear people say, "the government will pay for it." But, she retorted, "the government doesn't have money. It's our money. It all comes from the taxpayers." She cautioned her listeners to pay attention to where their money goes when the government spends it.

After the featured address, the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia for Naturalization Ceremonies was called into session, with Judge James P. Jones presiding. The names of the candidates for citizenship were called out, they strolled up to the stage, and, once assembled, Judge Jones asked them to repeat the oath of citizenship:

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

In his own, brief remarks, Judge Jones evoked the memory of Judge James H. Michael, who presided over this ceremony for many years and who relished that role; as the Charlottesville Daily Progress noted in its report on his death last August:

One of Michael’s favorite duties, according to his family, was administering the oath of citizenship at Monticello each July Fourth.

“If I try to put my finger on Harry Michael, nothing better illustrates his philosophy or his notion of America than those annual nationalization ceremonies at Monticello,” said University of Virginia School of Law professor A.E. Dick Howard. “I found those talks very moving. There he was talking to newly minted American citizens about what brings us together, our common ground. I thought that . . . statement of Americanism to new citizens couldn’t be improved upon.”

Judge Jones then introduced Fourth Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, who lives in Charlotttesville, who told the new citizens: "You refresh us and renew us and we just can't do without you."

"The great thing about America," Judge Wilkinson said, is that "it doesn't matter when your ancestors came. . . . You and I step forward as Americans and fellow citizens." Regardless of when our ancestors came or where they came from, "we're thinking about the future right now. We want an America where there is opportunity and not artificial obstacles."

Judge Wilkinson asked the newly naturalized to "think of how much you did to get here -- how many interviews you did, how many forms you filled out" and then noted that "today is a two-way street. It's not about us telling you, it's about you telling us what America means." He then joined Judge Jones in inviting the new citizens to come to the microphone to say a few words. Several did, almost all expressing pride in being U.S. citizens, with one woman saying she would "die for this country" and others going out of their way to give thanks for all the good things America does around the world. A few just barely choked back tears.

When the remarks ended, Judge Jones asked World War II veteran Earl V. Thacker, Jr., to lead the large crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance.

The ceremonies ended with the Charlottesville Municipal Band playing the "Star-Spangled Banner," under the baton of James W. Simmons, who is retiring this year after 60 years with the band.

As the crowd dispersed, many of the new citizens took the opportunity to register to vote at a table staffed by the Albemarle County office of voter registration. It turns out that the entire Charlottesville Electoral Board was also present, along with some of our City election officials. Fortunately, we evaded a breach of the state open meetings law because there was no time when all three of us were together and we did not discuss official business. (I didn't see any of the County Electoral Board members, though they might have been mingling with the throngs of new citizens and well-wishers.)

For anyone who is a citizen of the United States by birth rather than effort, attending a ceremony like this can be quite instructive. I recommend it as something to do at least once, if not annually.

The Citizenship Test

ImNotEmeril has a link to an online citizenship test that asks some of the same questions that immigrants seeking naturalization have to answer. Not surprisingly, he passed with flying colors. Or, as he puts it, "I get to stay."

Me, too.

How well will you do?

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 10 out of 10 correct!

Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

Frankly, the questions seemed a bit simplistic. So I have to wonder if the test is an authentic example of what candidates for naturalization actually face.

Don't forget to visit ImNotEmeril if you're thinking about attending the Blogs United conference in Martinsville in August. He notes that registration is open and has a link to the conference web site, Blogs United in Martinsville for Free Speech.

Speaking of naturalization, I'm planning to attend the annual Independence Day ceremony to swear in new citizens at Monticello this morning. I have been to several previous ceremonies -- my first time, in 2000, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was the speaker, and in subsequent years I've heard author Frank McCourt, USA Today founder Al Neuharth, and last year's guest speaker, architect I.M. Pei.

This year's featured speakers are environmental artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. If I'm able to do so, I'll report on the event later today.