Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America

George W. Bush was president of the United States from 2001-09 and represented the Republican Party while in office. Prior to his election, he was the governor of Texas. His most notable policies while president include the No Child Left Behind Act, which attempted to reform educational standards, and the Patriot Act, which allowed large-scale surveillance of US citizens to identify current and potential terrorists.

Lalami mentions Bush in multiple essays, usually referring to decisions made on the part of the US government, but also to call into question elements of his rhetoric. Bush began the war on terror, an effort by the US to end terrorism on a global scale. In the context of this war, he declared that one is either on the side of American efforts or on the side of the terrorists. This rhetoric, Lalami points out, worsened existing divisions between Arab and Muslim Americans and their non-Arab, non-Muslim counterparts. Because of Bush’s rhetoric, as well as the subsequent wars he led in Iraq and Afghanistan, many Arab and Muslim Americans suffered discrimination, ranging from suspicious looks in airports to outright hate crimes.

Barack Obama was president of the United States from 2009-17, and he was a senator for the state of Illinois prior to his election. Obama is recognized as a skilled orator, and his most notable accomplishments in office include massive reforms to healthcare, known as the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare; tax reform; and efforts to curtail climate change. He was the first Black person elected to the office of president, and he suffered many personal, racist attacks during and after his election.

Lalami brings up Obama in “Allegiance,” where she notes that he was consistently likened to Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X. The former was a comparison drawn by his supporters, while his opponents preferred the latter view. The injustice of these comparisons, Lalami notes, is that they remove Obama’s individual skills and abilities from the discussion, focusing instead on other Black leaders to homogenize all Black political efforts. However, Lalami also notes that Obama takes part in many of the same efforts as the other presidents involved in the war on terror. He oversaw the maneuver that led to the death of Osama bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, as well as the continued wars in the Middle East.

Donald Trump was president of the United States from 2017-21, and he did not hold political office prior to winning the presidential election. His prior career was in real estate development via the Trump Organization. As president, he attempted to reverse the Affordable Care Act, signed executive orders limiting immigration from several primarily Muslim countries, withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, and struggled to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. He held nationalist policies, captured in the “America First” slogan. The January 6 Committee of the House of Representatives concluded that he incited an insurrection at the US Capitol in an effort to overturn the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden. He is the only US president impeached twice.

Lalami brings up Trump in almost every essay, and his actions and rhetoric as president seem to be one of the main reasons why Lalami felt that she needed to initiate a full discussion on citizenship. His proposal to build a wall between the US and Mexico, his attempts to deport or refuse entry to Muslim and Latin American immigrants, and his discriminatory remarks caused and still cause a great deal of anxiety among those Lalami calls conditional citizens. Trump is repeatedly brought up in these essays because he embodies the power structures that Lalami is fighting against.

Pete Wilson was the governor of California from 1991 until 1999, and he was a senator for that state from 1983 until his election to the governorship. He is known for his strict stances on immigration and welfare, as well as on crime and climate change. During his governorship, he enacted a three-strikes policy, which guarantees jail time on a third offense; denied undocumented immigrants access to education and healthcare; and supported efforts to deregulate the energy industry.

Lalami discusses Wilson in many essays, as he was the governor during much of Lalami’s formative period in California. She recalls the impact of his efforts to deny services to undocumented immigrants and limit welfare, as she observed that his welfare policies led to a significant decrease in the number of families in need who received support from the government.

Hassan II was the king of Morocco from 1961 until 1999, and he was a member of the ‘Alawi dynasty of Moroccan monarchs. Hassan II is known for his authoritarian governing style, which oversaw an increase in political and religious conservatism in Morocco. After his death, he and his administration were investigated for human rights violations that occurred during his reign. During the Cold War, a noncombat conflict between the US and the Soviet Union, Hassan II allied Morocco with the US, though he also accepted military aid from the Soviet Union during this time.

Lalami brings up Hassan II as a representation of the distinction between the American and Moroccan governments. He was an authoritarian ruler, and his religious conservatism increased over the course of his reign; in “Faith,” Lalami notes that this continued even after she left Morocco. She distinguishes between being a citizen in the US and being a subject of the king in Morocco throughout the collection, contrasting the American process of elected with the ‘Alawi dynasty’s rule divine right to rule. This means that religion, rather than popular consent, justified his rule.

Ahmed Fadhil al-Nazal al-Khalaylah, also known as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was a leading member of the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda after his involvement in other terrorist organizations in the Middle East. His death in 2006 was a sparking point for the transition from Al Qaeda to ISIS as the dominant terrorist group in the region, and he was a notable figure in the US efforts to wage war on terror in the Middle East through wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In some ways, Lalami brings up al-Khalaylah as a mirror for King Hassan II, as both men were violently authoritarian and religiously conservative. The efforts of al-Khalaylah are used in “Faith” in contrast to most Muslims’ existence in a “gray area” in which they are neither radicalized into terrorism nor converted against Islam. ISIS and other terror groups, including leaders like al-Khalaylah and Osama bin Laden, insisted that all Muslims should join them and their efforts, while the US, under Bush, insisted that all Americans should join the war on terror. In that sense, al-Khalaylah is a foil, or a contrast, to Bush, as the two used the same rhetoric toward opposite ends.

Christine Blasey Ford is a professor of psychology at Palo Alto University. She is most known for her testimony against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, whom she accused of raping her while both were in college. Her testimony was ultimately ignored, but many Americans view it as a key moment in the #MeToo movement, a movement to expose and end sexual assault and harassment against women by calling out and reporting inappropriate and criminal actions.

Blasey Ford and Anita Hill, who testified against Clarence Thomas during his nomination to the Supreme Court, appear in “Inheritance” as contemporary examples of women’s dismissal by men on ground of dishonesty and incompetence. The arguments against Blasey Ford’s testimony accused her of either dishonesty, in lying about the attack, or incompetence, claiming that she mistakenly identified Kavanaugh as her attacker. Such accusations are often levied against women who speak up about injustice, and Lalami weaves Blasey Ford’s story throughout “Inheritance” to demonstrate these points.

Brett Kavanaugh is a Supreme Court justice who was nominated in 2018 by President Trump. He holds a history degree from Yale University and is a graduate of Yale Law School. Kavanaugh served as a US district judge prior to his appointment and is a member of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, a conservative organization that approved Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees. According to Blasey Ford, Kavanaugh raped her in 1982, while Kavanaugh was attending Georgetown Prep, a college preparatory school.

Lalami draws attention to Kavanaugh’s reactions to Blasey Ford’s accusations during his nomination to the Supreme Court, noting that he ignored and dismissed her testimony while angrily and emotionally defending himself against her accusations. Lalami contrasts Blasey Ford’s calm and organized testimony with his emotional response to show that Kavanaugh refused to engage with the facts of her claim, preferring to use tears and rage as a means of persuading the committee of his innocence. In “Inheritance,” Lalami uses Kavanaugh to represent men who dismiss and demean women, often resorting to violence and outrage when confronted with their crimes or complicity with sexism.