[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Four years after arriving\Nin the United States,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like any typical 16-year old,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I went to get my driver's permit.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After I showed the clerk\Nmy immigration papers, my green card,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she told me it was fake.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Don't come back here again," she said.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's how I found out\NI was in America illegally.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'm still here illegally.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm a journalist and filmmaker.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I live in stories,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what I've learned
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that what most people\Ndon't understand about immigration
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is what they don't understand\Nabout themselves:
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their families old migration stories\Nand the processes they had to go through
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before green cards and walls even existed,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or what shaped their understanding\Nof citizenship itself.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was born in the Philippines.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I was 12, my mother sent me\Nto live with her parents,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my grandparents,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or, as we say in Tagalog, Lolo and Lola.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Lolo's name was ??.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When he legally emigrated to America\Nand became a naturalized citizen,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he changed his name\Nfrom ?? to Ted,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after Ted Danson
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the TV show "Cheers."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Can't get any more American than that.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Lolo's favorite song\Nwas Frank Sinatra's "My Way,"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and when it came to figuring out\Nhow to get his only grandson, me,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to America,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he decided to do it his way.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,According to Lolo, there was no easy\Nand simple way to get me here,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so Lolo saved up 4,500 dollars --
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's a lot of money for a security guard
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who made no more than\Neight dollars an hour --
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to pay for the fake green card\Nand for a smuggler
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to bring me to the US.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that's how I got here.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can't tell you how many times\Npeople tell me that their ancestors
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,came to America "the right way,"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to which I remind them,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,America's definition of "the right way"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has been changing ever since\Nthe first ship of settlers dropped anchor.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,America as we know it\Nis more than a piece of land,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,particularly because the land that now\Nmakes up the United States of America
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,used to belong to other people\Nin other countries.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,America as we know it is also\Nmore than a nation of immigrants.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are two groups of Americans\Nwho are not immigrants:
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Native Americans, who were\Nindigenous to this land,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and who were killed in acts of genocide;
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and African Americans,\Nwho were kidnapped, shipped, and enslaved
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to build this country.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,America is above all an idea,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,however unrealized and imperfect,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one that only exists because\Nthe first settlers came here freely
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without worry of citizenship.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So where did you come from?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How did you get here?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who paid?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All across America,\Nin front of diverse audiences --
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,conservatives and progressives,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,high school students\Nand senior citizens --
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've asked those questions.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As a person of color,\NI always get asked where I'm from,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as in, "Where are you from from?"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I've asked white people\Nwhere they're from from too.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After asking a student\Nat the University of Georgia
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where he was from,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he said, "I'm American."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I know," I said,\N"but where are you from?"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I'm white," he replied.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"But white is not a country," I said.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Where are your ancestors from?"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When he replied with a shrug,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I said,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Well where did you come from?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How did you get here? Who paid?"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He couldn't answer.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't think you can talk\Nabout America as America
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without answering those\Nthree core questions.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Immigration is America's lifeline,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how this country has\Nreplenished itself for centuries,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the settlers and the revolutionaries\Nwho populated the original 13 colonies
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the millions of immigrants,\Npredominantly from Europe,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who relentlessly colonized this land.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even though Native Americans\Nwere already here
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and had their own tribal identities\Nand ideas about citizenship,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they were not considered US citizens\Nuntil the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act\Nthat Black Americans fought for
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,inspired the 1965\NImmigration and Nationality Act,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which ended America's\Nrace-based exclusionary system
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that had lasted for 40 years.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I could go on and on here,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but my point, my larger point, is this.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How much do any of us,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether immigrants\Nof the past or the present,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,know of these crucial parts\Nof American history?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How much of this history makes up\Nthe actual US citizenship test?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Have you ever seen it?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a mostly oral test,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and government officers ask applicants\Nup to 10 of the 100 questions.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To pass, applicants must get\Nat least six answers right.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I looked at the test recently,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I was aghast at the questions posed,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what constitutes acceptable answers\Nto the glaring omissions.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's a question about\Nthe Statue of Liberty, where it is.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's no question about Ellis Island,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the United States\Nas an immigrant nation,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the countless anti-immigrant\Nlaws that were passed.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's nothing about\NNative American history.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's a question about\Nwhat Martin Luther King, Jr. did,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but largely there's inadequate\Nand irresponsible contexts
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about African Americans.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here's an example.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Question number 74\Nunder the American history section
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,asks applicants to "name one problem\Nthat led to the Civil War."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are three acceptable answers:
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,slavery,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,states rights,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,economic reasons.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Did my Lola and Lolo get that question?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If they did get the question,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,do they even understand\Nthe history behind it?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How about my uncles\Nand aunties and cousins
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and millions of other immigrants\Nwho had to take that test
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to become Americans.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What do immigrants know\Nabout America before we get here?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What kind of citizenship\Nare we applying for?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And is that the same kind of citizenship\Nwe actually want to be a part of?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Come to think of it --\NI've been thinking a lot about this --
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what does dignified citizenship look like?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How can I ask for it when I\Njust arrived here 26 years ago,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when Black and Native people
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who have been here in America\Nfor hundreds of years
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are still waiting for theirs?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of my favorite writers\Nis Toni Morrison.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1996, a year before I found out\NI was in the country illegally,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my eighth grade class was assigned\Nto read "The Bluest Eye,"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Morrison's first book.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Instantly, the book challenged me\Nto ask hard questions.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why does Pecola Breedlove,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this young Black girl\Nat the center of the book,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,why did she want blue eyes?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who told her to want it?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why did she believe them?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Morrison said she wrote the book\Nto illustrate what happens
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when a person surrenders\Nto what she called "the master narrative."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Definitions, Morrison said,\Nbelonged to the definers, not the defined.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once I realized that I was here illegally,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I convinced myself that if I was not\Na legal citizen by birth or by law,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,another kind of citizenship was possible.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Citizenship as participation.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I engage.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I engage with all kinds of Americans,\Neven Americans who don't want me here.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Citizenship as contribution.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I give back to my community\Nin whatever ways I can.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As an undocumented entrepreneur,\Nand yes there is such a thing,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've employed many US citizens.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Citizenship as education.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We can't wait for others\Nto educate us about the past
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and how we got to this present.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We have to educate\Nourselves and our circles.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Citizenship as something\Ngreater than myself.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We are, I think,\Nindividually and collectively,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rewriting the master narrative of America.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The people who were once defined\Nare now doing the defining.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They're asking the questions\Nthat need to be asked.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A core part of that redefinition\Nis how we define
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not only who is an American\Nbut what constitute citizenship.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which, to me, is our\Nresponsibility to each other.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So consider your own personal narrative
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and ask yourself,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where did you come from?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How did you get here?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who paid?