Northwestern Professor Daisy Hernández Challenges the History and Stability of American Citizenship
Daisy Hernández, an Associate Professor at Northwestern University, is examining the volatile history of American identity in her upcoming work, arguing that the concept of citizenship is less a fixed legal status and more a shifting cultural myth. In her new book, Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth, Hernández blends historical analysis with personal memoir to trace how the United States has continuously redefined who belongs, often excluding specific groups through evolving language, customs, and laws.
Hernández, previously acclaimed for her award-winning nonfiction book The Kissing Bug, draws heavily upon her own family history to illustrate these systemic shifts; her mother immigrated from Colombia, while her father was a political refugee from Cuba. She contends that the “story” of citizenship is frequently rewritten to serve specific political narratives, particularly regarding Latin American communities. Her research scrutinizes the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, suggesting that the definition of an “American” has never been static but is instead a malleable tool used to define the national psyche.
Background information on the author reveals a career focused on the intersections of race, ethnicity, and public policy. Hernández’s previous work has been recognized by the National Book Foundation and PEN America, establishing her authority in the field of cultural criticism. This latest project aims to dissect what she terms the “truths and lies” of the American soul by investigating the borderlands of legal and social belonging.
The framing of citizenship as a fluid “myth,” however, invites skepticism from observers who emphasize the concrete legalities of the status. Legal scholars often argue that while cultural acceptance may fluctuate, the constitutional definitions of naturalization and birthright provide a rigid, binary framework that confers specific, enforceable rights and protections, distinct from social sentiment. Furthermore, traditional historians may object to the methodology of weaving personal memoir with historical record, arguing that subjective experience can obscure the objective analysis of state policy and constitutional law. Despite these differing perspectives, Hernández’s work highlights the ongoing tension between the letter of the law and the lived reality of those navigating the American immigration system.
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