If I was born in England but lived in the United States my entire life, would I be English or American? Does birth define nationality? Does longevity? Does it matter?
I’m surprised when I hear individuals claim they are English even when they’ve lived in the United States ninety-nine percent of their life (and have American citizenship). The idea that our nationality is based solely on the place that we are born, is a peculiar concept. It grows more peculiar when we examine the habit of proclaiming it despite apparent characteristics to the contrary.
If you believe that your nationality is based on where you’ve spent the majority of time then think again. There are national laws that inculcate identity into the psyche. For example, you are an American citizen if you are born on American soil. That is, you have that right of citizenship. You can claim it. The same is true for many other countries. So it isn’t farfetched that you could foster the viewpoint that you are English even though you spent one day of your entire life (your birth day) on English soil, but should you?
Nationality: the status of belonging to a particular nation, whether by birth or naturalization: the nationality of an immigrant. —Dictionary.com
I don’t want to make the claim that we need to set new standards, maybe just new habits. Standards are already present. Clarification would be nice. The definition above is clearly ambiguous. If I was born in Zambia, grew up in America, and died in Thailand then I suppose I could claim nationalities in all three countries according to Dictionary.com. I could say that I’m Zambian, American, and Thai. The confusion would come when, living in Thailand for 50 years, someone asked me my nationality and I proclaimed it to be Zambian.
That’s it!
Forget about time spent as a citizen in a particular nation; give the listener all the nationalities you have the right to claim. Why say that you’re English when you’ve spent eighty-years in America and have American citizenship? Instead, claim your nationality as English and American? It’s simple, and it lacks any form of pretense. It tells the listener the truth. And if the listener wants clarification as to the English or American side of you then let her ask.
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