What Does Citizenship Require of Us?

By Valerie Habif

My late grandmother, an indomitable woman who spoke seven languages — none of them English, was born in Turkey and lived in Cuba and Atlanta before spending her final years in Puerto Rico.

At some point in her 90’s, she decided to become a United States citizen and worked hard to memorize answers to the questions anticipated during the citizenship test. Before then, she had been the quintessential “Jewish ancestor” — going from place to place without the benefit of citizenship. My grandmother, like many Jews, also carried the baggage of feeling expelled, vilified, and persecuted. Many Jews currently living in and citizens of the United States increasingly feel this same way amid rising rates of antisemitism and a democracy which seems to be in great peril.

I never learned why my grandmother made the choice to become a United States citizen after so many decades of living here. But, when I think of her with great affection, I am always reminded of the value of citizenship.

Our currently uncertain times create the perfect backdrop for reflection upon the question my grandmother left unanswered: What is the value of citizenship? What responsibilities accompany the formalized “belonging” citizenship conveys?

Baratunde Thurston, the noted comedian, author and podcaster, challenges us to repurpose the noun “citizen” into an active participatory verb, “to citizen.” Citizenship is not just something we hold, he reminds us, it’s something we must actively do. “We can do more than be born in a certain place, cast a vote, and follow the news. We have the power to shape our world,” Thurston tells us.

Certainly, citizenship comes with rights and privileges, but it also comes with responsibilities. Many of us have long believed those responsibilities are to cast our ballot and occasionally show up for jury duty. However, to truly “citizen” goes far beyond casting a ballot.

To citizen in a meaningful way means we won’t merely cast a ballot in November, we will use the upcoming weeks before the election to make sure we do everything possible to stand up in defense of our democracy. We must make sure everyone else we know also casts a ballot. We must work to ensure our elections remain free, fair, and protected.

The magnitude of this challenge is beautifully articulated by Michael Jochum, best known as a distinguished rock/jazz/metal drummer. “The question isn’t whether billionaires will spend extraordinary sums trying to shape the outcome of this election. The question is whether millions of ordinary Americans will finally decide this country is worth more than the highest bid,” Jochum tells us. “The day our democracy belongs to the richest bidder, instead of the American voter, is the day the republic our parents, grandparents, and generations before them sacrificed to preserve becomes nothing more than a luxury item for the obscenely wealthy. We must refuse to watch that happen quietly.”

The hundreds of millions being spent to influence Georgia voters are evident each time we turn on a television, laptop or handheld device. Friday, Sept. 4, marks just 60 days before Election Day. There are many ways to make a difference before the November 3 General Election.

First, begin by making a commitment to using the power of your voice. You have something to say to everyone you see — those you know and those you don’t. For example, when you are standing in the grocery line chatting with the shopper behind you about the price of eggs, milk, or other items in your respective shopping carts, you have the opening for a conversational thread along the lines of:

• Do you mind if I ask, are you registered to vote?
• Have you recently checked the status of your registration?
• Have you thought about the issues which are most important to you in this upcoming election?

Depending upon those answers, you can take the conversation further with more detailed questions along the lines of:

• Have you thought about which candidates best support the issues which matter most to you?
• Have you made a commitment to vote the entire length of the ballot? Use this question to explain how the candidates at the bottom of the ballot are most likely to become the officials who have the most direct impact on our day-to-day lives.

Using your voice is where you begin, but certainly not where your efforts should end. We must not only be loud, we must act!

“Defending democracy begins with ordinary individuals speaking out publicly to express that certain actions are unacceptable,” the great defender of democracy Marc Elias tells us. “As the midterms approach, now is not the time to give up. It is time to double down and do everything in our power to protect free and fair elections.”

All of us are safer in a system which has free and fair elections. Our job is to make sure the system survives, not just for our own preservation but for those in targeted communities and the children we love in the generations who follow us.

There are many actions each of us can choose for making a difference during the next 60 days and to make a habit for subsequent election cycles:

• Choose to be a poll worker or a poll watcher.
• Choose a candidate whose values you support and volunteer for their campaign in the office, by canvassing, or making phone calls. Consider hosting a “meet-and-greet” in your neighborhood. If you live in a district which is not contested, “adopt” a candidate who faces a contested race for a district where your work will make a difference.
• If you are not a fan of partisan politics, choose a non-partisan organization working to improve voter turnout and sign up to knock on doors or make phone calls.
• Closer to election day when early voting begins, choose to volunteer to drive those without transportation to the polls.
• If you are restricted by health issues, choose to write postcards on behalf of a candidate or to encourage voter turnout.

From my involvement in past campaigns, I can assure you that you will feel far better after making these choices to be involved at a deeper level than you might expect. While most of us, regardless of age, have memories of going to the polling place with our parents or our children, the cultural appreciation we feel for voting is not universal.

Disengaged citizens cite a variety of reasons for not voting in the past. Current times call upon all of us to find the disengaged citizens among us and to convince them their vote matters! Especially this year.

To put it simply, the future of our democracy depends upon how actively we “citizen” in the coming weeks.

The future depends on us.

This guest column is adapted from prepared remarks delivered by Valerie Habif during a late August meeting of the National Council of Jewish Women. She is a PhD-trained psychologist with decades of clinical experience in Atlanta and a lengthy list of leadership roles for civic and political organizations.