The definition of whiteness, and who has the right to be a citizen, has been an ongoing debate throughout our country's history. Starting as far back as 1790 up though present day, the guidelines for who is ‘white’ and in turn, who has the right to become a citizen, have changed over and over again. This podcast explains a lot of the reasoning and thought process that went into the decision of the Wong Kim Ark case back in 1895, when he tried to reenter the country when the Chinese Exclusion Acts were taking place, and how he had to fight to prove that he was a US citizen.
In the Wong Kim Ark case, a big portion of what decided whether he could re enter the United States or not, dealt with the concept of birthright citizenship. His parents