In the footsteps of Tocqueville
A voice echoes over the towers and the egg-shaped arts center that line the Empire State Plaza in Albany. It invites, first in English, then in Spanish, the thousands of spectators packed inside to sign up for the text message notification system in case of emergencies. July 4 is one of the deadliest days of the year in the United States, mainly because of car accidents, but also because shootings and acts of violence are more frequent in the summer.
The speakers go silent. New York State Supreme Court Justice Richard Rivera takes the stage at the Independence Day celebrations, which are being sponsored again this year by the grocery chains Price Chopper Supermarkets and Market 32, as can be seen from the faded posters hanging here and there.
The man in a black robe invites 16 people from all over the world — 13 different states, he points out — to sit on the folding chairs placed in onion rows next to him.
These persons are prepared to “absolutely and entirely renounce all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, whose [elles sont] heretofore subjects or citizens,” and to acquire American citizenship before the crowd.
But first, the magistrate asks them to keep their origins in mind. And Bengali, Arabic or Nepalese. And Sopa Negra, goat curry or biryani. “This is part of what you have to offer this country,” he emphasizes, inviting them in the same breath to jump into the melting pot United States, where more than 335 million people await them.
“Here you can practice Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, or no religion at all, it’s your choice!” Judge Rivera continued, pointing to the New York State Capitol behind him. “If you haven’t figured it out by now, in America we celebrate all of that. It’s that diversity and the ability to express it that makes our country great.”
“The best possible”
The judge also tells his future fellow citizens that “America is not perfect.” “You may find people who don’t like what you are, that you have a foreign accent. But America is still a great nation, and we fight every day to make it better, to make it the best it can be,” he says, while thanking the 16 people next to him for making the United States their country.
If democracy is more likely to err than a king or a body of nobles, it is also more likely to return to the truth, once the light reaches it, because there are not, in general, in its midst interests contrary to that of the majority, and which struggle against reason. But democracy can obtain the truth only from experience, and many peoples cannot wait, without perishing, for the results of their errors. The great privilege of the Americans is therefore not only to be more enlightened than others, but to have the faculty of making reparable errors.
An agent dispatched by the Department of Homeland Security speaks. “Your Honor, on behalf of the United States government, we respectfully request that the candidates present take the oath of allegiance as required by law,” he says. Judge Rivera nods. At his request, the 16 individuals leap from their seats, then raise their right hands in a pledge to defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies foreign or domestic. Applause erupts from the spectators’ stands. The United States has 16 more citizens.
No fewer than 878,500 people obtained U.S. citizenship between October 2022 and September 2023. During this period, Mexico (12.7%), India (6.7%) and the Philippines (5.1%) were the top countries of origin. The United States has been the top destination country for migrants since 1970.
Democracy is no stranger to the attraction of the United States, new American citizen Jhannutul spontaneously indicates in an exchange with The Dutyas she leaves the stage. “Freedom, freedom of expression, it’s very important to me, to be honest,” says the Bangladeshi-born woman, proudly holding her naturalization certificate.
The fervor aroused by the reading of the Declaration of Independence, the parade in the streets of Albany on July 4, 1831, in which he took part, all this made a great impression on Alexis de Tocqueville. “Orderly presentation of the trades. Public prayer. Presence of the flag and old soldiers. Real emotion,” he notes, not believing that a prayer was recited by a pastor during the July 4 celebrations. “It’s unheard of, the ceremony begins with a prayer! A prayer before the reading of the Declaration of Independence,” the author marvels. On Democracy in America and of Fifteen days in the desert.
The patriotic fervor of Albany’s people is still intact — or almost — 193 years later. A pastor’s blessing of the Fourth of July celebrations has been replaced by a sponsorship from Price Chopper Supermarkets and Market 32 Grocery Stores. Even a top New York state official effusively thanks the grocery chain for its sponsorship.
“July 4th Celebrations [1831] and the demonstrations of national unity to which they gave rise, however, masked deep political divisions that the two Frenchmen struggled to see,” including the war waged by President Andrew Jackson against the second bank of the United States or the influence exercised by a group of politicians nicknamed the Albany Regency over the government of the State of New York, notes political scientist Olivier Zunc in his book Tocqueville, the man who understood democracy (Fayard).
Most of the spectators crossed by The Duty in downtown Albany on July 4, 2024, hide their political views under the slogan “Happy Fourth,” which they throw around left and right, except for a few who express it, for example, by wearing a T-shirt that says “Trump won in 2020” and a website address behind which a ton of lies are hidden.
Many people worry about the erosion of American institutions. Are they wrong? asks The Duty to Judge Rivera after the naturalization ceremony he led. “I’m taking a break, because there are obviously some things I’m not allowed to say,” the judge replied, recalling his duty of confidentiality. “All I can say is that anyone who has a problem with a system of government should do their best to change it. Whether you agree with what’s being done or not, make your voice heard, help make changes where they need to be made, and do whatever you can. A system improves if the people who are there come together and try to solve the problems that are there,” he added, sounding optimistic. Voting is one way to make your voice heard, he mentioned on the Empire State Plaza.
In any case, Jhannutul intends to exercise his right to vote on November 5, after taking a closer look at the political proposals made to him.
An armed forces plane and then “the best fireworks in the area,” the announcers repeat, streak across the summer sky of Albany.
The song God Bless America — an “expression of gratitude for what this country has done for its citizens, for what ‘home’ really means,” according to its author, Irving Berlin (1888–1989) — spins around the Empire State Plaza, driven by the pre-recorded voice of a Canadian, Celine Dion.
This report was financed with the support of the Transat International Journalism Fund-The Duty.