The Restricted Citizen

• Author: Everett V. Stonequist
• Published date: 01 September 1942
• Date: 01 September 1942
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/000271624222300123
• publishedBy: Sage Publications, Inc.

149

The

Restricted

Citizen

By

EVERETT

V.

STONEQUIST

HE

difference

between

democratic

Tconstitutional

theory

and

demo-

cratic

social

practice

in

the

treatment

of

minorities

can

be

a

large

one.

This

may

be

somewhat

disillusioning

to

the

adherent

of

democratic

philosophy,

but

it

should

not

be

surprising

to

the

real-

istic

student

of

human

affairs.

Human

beings

everywhere

behave

largely

in

terms

of

established

customs

and

tradi-

tions

modified

by

the

immediate

desires

and

pressures

of

individual

and

group

interests.

These

are

not

likely

to

be

either

very

rational

or

very

consistent.

Democratic

constitutional

theory,

on

the

other

hand,

formulates

rather

gen-

eral

and

(ideally)

universal

principles

of

conduct,

and,

even

though

it

moves

in

the

realm

of

the

&dquo;must,&dquo;

it

is

strongly

oriented

in

the

direction

of

the

&dquo;ought.&dquo;

In

the

United

States

the

conflict

be-

tween

democratic

theory

and

demo-

cratic

practice

has

been

particularly

acute

and

sometimes

disruptive.

Ours

is

a

large

country

and

a

young

nation,

a

nation

in

the

making.

We

are

an

emergent

nationality

of

many

peoples

and

races,

but,

contrary

to

the

beliefs

and

hopes

of

our

enemies,

a

very

real

and

unified

nation.

This

unity

in

large

part

centers

around

common

hopes

for

the

future rather

than

in

common

memories

of

the

past:

the

promise

rather

than

the

history

of

America.

This

is

in

contrast

to

most

of

the

older

nations

of

the

earth.

As

a

concomitant,

or

consequence,

it

means

that

our

social,

economic,

and

political

life

contains

many

practices

which

conflict

with

our

philosophy.

Thus

we

arrive

at

what

appears

to

be

a

contradiction

in

terms:

the

restricted

citizen.’

From

the

standpoint

of

demo-

cratic

constitutional

principle,

all

citi-

zens

are

legally

equal.

In

social

life,

and

sometimes

in

specific

acts

of

law,

however,

there

are

many

inequalities

and

restrictions.

Insofar

as

a

democ-

racy

remains

consistent

with

its

own

spirit

and

doctrine,

it

strives

ever

to

bring

the

stubborn

facts

of

human

in-

equality

into

harmony

with

its

prin-

ciples

of

equality

of

treatment

and

op-

portunity.

But

this

is

a

task

requiring

for

its

success

time,

patience,

and

per-

sistent

effort

in

modifying

the

basic

conditions

of

social

life;

it

does

not

occur

automatically

from

the

mere

en-

actment

of

acts

of

legislation.

ROOTS

OF

PRESENT

RESTRICTIONS

The

deeper

roots

of

present-day

re-

strictions

upon

citizens

of

minority

groups

can

be

best

understood

by

a

glance

at

our

history.

The

social

struc-

ture

of

the

United

States

is

in

consid-

erable

part

an

arrangement

patterned

by

the

process

of

migration

to

America.

The

early

immigrants

established

the

ground

pattern

of

national

life.

Later

immigrants

were

assimilated

to

this

pat-

tern

and

to

the

modifications

developed

in

the

course

of

adjustments

to

the

new

environment.

They

also

made

contri-

butions

which

still

further

modified

the

original

heritage.

The

division

between

the

&dquo;old&dquo;

im-

migrants,

who

arrived

largely

before

1890

and

who

originated

mainly

in

northwestern

Europe,

and

the

&dquo;new&dquo;

immigrants,

who

have

come

chiefly

since

1890

and

whose

homes

were

in

southern

and

eastern

Europe,

represents

a

signifi-

1

The

following

account

does

not

consider

restrictions

on

citizens

which

exist

apart

from

the

subject

of

cultural

and

racial

minorities,

such

as

those

on

sex,

marriage,

age,

residence,

voting,

and

so

forth.

Some

of

these,

such

as

the

poll

tax

and

bans

on

interracial

marriage,

restrict

both

white

and

colored

races.

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