True Equality Means I Can Decide Who I Am And Change My Mind Whenever I Want

In a country that is constantly changing, you never know what you are going to find when you wake up.

For me, I found myself in one of those snarky moods that only a Monday can bring, especially since there have been an unusual amount of “incredible” (sarcasm intended) stories in the news lately.

Let me explain.

Where were you born? Until recently, I was positive that I was born in North Carolina or at least that’s what my birth certificate states as my birthplace.

However, where I was actually born may no longer matter following the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision which concluded a 12-year-old case that was brought by a Jerusalem-born American, Menachem Zivotofsky, and his parents who are both United States citizens.

Zivotofsky was seeking to include on his passport that he was born in Jerusalem, Israel, not merely Jerusalem.

The majority opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, a former law professor at the law school I attended, concluded that the president has the exclusive power to recognize foreign nations and that only the president can decide what goes in a passport regarding those nations.

Just like that, a fact-based decision regarding the country in which Zivotofsky was born was essentially given to the president to decide. No longer does reality matter to the Supreme Court as much as politics and a progressive agenda.

[sharequote align="center"]It’s time that we all stand up and demand that we be acknowledged based upon our choice.[/sharequote]

It’s no secret that there is a Palestinian-Israeli conflict over Jerusalem and a strain in Israeli-American relations caused by the role of the U.S. in negotiations with Iran over a nuclear weapons treaty.

Also, President Barack Obama is not happy with a statement that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu made during his campaign for re-election which Obama believes rejected the creation of a Palestinian state.

Even though it is correct that Zivotofsky was born in Jerusalem, Jerusalem is located in Israel. He wasn’t born in Jerusalem, Saudi Arabia or Jerusalem, New Hampshire. It was indeed Israel.

Apparently, you can now change reality if you are the president because you and you alone hold that power when it comes to what is written on an American citizen’s passport.

If you were born in the U.S., then you can rest assured that the president will not prohibit you from including that state on your passport as part of your birthplace. At least you’re safe for today.

Rachel Dolezal (Images via KREM-TV)

However, if you are born in a foreign country and you’re also an American citizen, then the president can tell you, in regards to your passport, that he doesn’t recognize your country. You are out of luck. Make sense?

If you are struggling with that “fact” then let’s move on to another one that may also leave you scratching your head.

In light of recent articles in the news regarding Caitlyn “Bruce” Jenner’s transition into living his life as a woman and the recent revelation that Rachel Dolezal, a Caucasian women who identifies as an African-American and has for quite some time, I have decided to enlist Obama’s help in fulfilling a transition in my own life.

You may ask why I specifically want the president’s help. It seems like the most “logical” place to begin following the Zivotofsky ruling. Perhaps Obama should have the final say in what I’m trying to achieve, as well.

I am declaring today that I am a Native American of Cherokee ancestry and should be recognized as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.

According to the Cherokee Nation, there are certain requirements that must be met before I can be recognized as a Cherokee National tribal citizen.

Although, a “specific blood quantum” is not required, it must be proven that I have “at least one direct Cherokee ancestor listed on the Dawes Final Rolls, a federal census of those living in the Cherokee Nation that was used to allot Cherokee land to individual citizens in preparation for Oklahoma statehood.”

Why am I making this declaration?

Unlike the allegations against Dolezal, I have actual blood running through my veins of Cherokee ancestry that a simple DNA test would confirm.

Image source: Vanity Fair

My great grandmother was a full-blood Native American of Cherokee heritage. Why should I be denied because a certain requirement must be met? Neither Jenner nor Dolezal had conditions placed upon them.

Jenner wasn’t obligated to meet any requirements in order for the public to declare him courageous and to give him an award.

Dolezal apparently did not have to jump through any hoops before considering herself an African-American and before being accepted by the NAACP.

If I am to embrace Jenner as a female and Dolezal as an African-American then why must I be treated any differently before I can choose?

To not treat me as a tribal citizen of the Cherokee Nation before I have passed its requirements and after I have openly declared myself a citizen, would be to treat me differently than Jenner or Dolezal, right?

Therefore, I call upon the president to dictate to the Cherokee Nation what they can require of me regarding proof of my ancestry in the event they will not openly accept the statement I have made about my lineage and welcome me as a tribal citizen. My statement that I am Cherokee should be enough.

I would also ask that Al Sharpton immediately stand up for my heritage and insist that the Cherokee Nation change its policy, so that anyone can become a tribal citizen who identifies as Cherokee.

Finally, I publicly ask the ACLU to demand that my rights be upheld by calling on the Cherokee Nation to dissolve its rules that are imposed before someone can become a tribal citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Admittance should be based upon a choice of the person who identifies as a Cherokee, nothing more.

Maybe it’s time that we all stand up and demand that we be acknowledged just like everyone else based upon our choice. What do you think? If we don’t seek equal treatment then surely nothing will change.

At least, it could turn a sarcastic day into one for which it is easier to cope. The week is just starting and there are surely more preposterous things headed our way.

So, who do you want to be today?

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