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Journalist Roger Bennett joined the ranks of the more than 700,000 people who will become American citizens in 2018.

Bennett, who co-hosts NBC Sports Network's "Men in Blazers" show and podcast, grew up in the United Kingdom. Though he's lived in the United States for some time (he got married here in 2000), it wasn't until 2014 that he committed to becoming a citizen. The process was long and tedious, but on June 1, he realized that goal.

On Twitter, Bennett shared a powerful story about the many feelings he had about becoming a U.S. citizen in current times.

He begins by sharing the story of his great-grandfather who tried to emigrate to the U.S. in the 1890s only to mistake Liverpool for New York. "That family tale always made me feel deeply connected to America," he wrote.


Growing up, his view of America, communicated through pop culture, inspired him to chase his own dreams.

He even used his bedroom to display his patriotism, painting three of the walls red, white, and blue.

After graduating from college, those dreams brought him to Chicago, due in part to his love of John Hughes films — which honestly seems as good a reason as any to choose Chicago.

On the day of his naturalization ceremony, Bennett put a fine cap on his family's 130-year journey, calling it the achievement of his lifetime.

He hopes that future generations of his family will think of him and how he was the one who moved the family to America. He doesn't even care if they remember his name.

Naturally, he celebrated his citizenship as any freshly minted American would: with a Budweiser.

He grew up dreaming of an idealized notion of America, and while it may not always live up to the model as it existed in his mind, it's a country he loves. His journey is like that of so many immigrants, just people chasing their dreams and hoping for a better world for their families. Immigrants are what make America great, whether they arrived here in the 1890s (as Bennett's great-grandfather intended) or today.

When we turn our back on immigrants, whether a starry-eyed dreamer like Bennett or someone fleeing persecution in their home country, we turn our back on our own history. Patriotism means pushing the U.S. to live up to the ideals burned into Bennett's memory, not edge toward isolation.

Welcome and congratulations, Roger Bennett, American citizen.

The Samel family immigrated to the U.S. from Sudan in 2010. They became naturalized citizens in May 2015 and moved into a new house in Iowa City, Iowa, that December.

The house had actually been built for them with help from Habitat for Humanity and as part of the city's National Day of Service and Remembrance in honor of 9/11. The Muslim family — Amar Samel and his wife, Muna Abdalla, along with their four children — were happily settling into their new American lives, including jobs and schooling.

They'd been living in the house 11 months when Amar Samel returned home from a memorial service to find a less-than-welcoming note on the door:

“You can all go home now. We don’t want (a racial epithet) and terrorists here. #Trump.”

Photo via Stephen Mally/The (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Gazette, used with permission.


That was Nov. 11, 2016, the Friday after Election Day. Judging by the hashtag stamped on the end of the hateful message, the timing was no coincidence.

Unfortunately, when Samel called the police, they were not particularly helpful at first. According to Samel, the officer he spoke with on the phone declined to visit the house or take a formal statement and told Samel to simply take the note down and throw it away.

"This disappointed me more than the action itself because I was looking for kind of support," Samel told the Iowa City Press-Citizen. "Because the police obviously represent for us, represent somebody supporting you. The law. The power. So nobody’s above the law."

The police administration has since assigned a detective to investigate the case. The Iowa City Area CrimeStoppers also stepped in to offer a $1,000 reward for information about the culprits behind the note.

Photo via Stephen Mally/The (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Gazette, used with permission.

But as word of the incident began to spread around Iowa City, the Samels' fellow Iowans found other ways to show their support.

Strangers and friends alike banded together to flood the family with neighborly love and true hospitality, sending them cookies, cards, flowers, and balloons and chalking affectionate messages on their driveway.

"I'm glad your [sic] my brother's best friend," wrote one classmate to the Samels' son, Mohammed.

"You are very nice people. You should stay," someone scribbled on the asphalt outside their home. "We're glad you're here!" another wrote.

Photo via Stephen Mally/The (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Gazette, used with permission.

"You hear about these things happening, but you don’t really know if it’s true. When I heard people say this was their neighbor, it really hit home," one Iowan told The Gazette after dropping off a flower bouquet at the Samel family home the Monday after the incident.

Photo via Stephen Mally/The (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Gazette, used with permission.

Sarah Widdick Shaw saw the Samels' heartbreaking story in The Gazette and shared it with the famous secret Facebook group Pantsuit Nation.

Shaw urged her fellow group members to keep the lovefest going for the Samel family by sending them even more notes, cards, and gifts through The Gazette, whose address she included in the post.

"I only hope that there were enough to make a difference for them," she said. "It's not much, sending letters of support, but gezzus we have to do something to counteract all this hate."

Within the hour, the post had been shared by more than a hundred people. Other users shared photos of their cards, letters, baked goods, and handmade gifts such as stickers and temporary tattoos. Some people even made donations to Habitat for Humanity because they'd helped to build the family's home.

Photo via Stephen Mally/The (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Gazette, used with permission.

By the Monday before Thanksgiving, The Gazette had received more than a hundred cards and letters, all looking to be delivered to the Samels.

The family was overwhelmed by the support. When The Gazette asked if the family wanted to respond to this outpouring of support, Amar Samel answered, "Tell them we are OK. Everything will be OK. We are relieved by knowing that, this is life, always there is good and bad, but the good is always more."

Just a few of the cards received at the Gazette office. Image via the Samel family.

Recent events may have invigorated a new surge of hate in America, but it's inspired even more people to show how big their hearts can be.

"Hopefully the next generation will have more warmth in their hearts," Sarah Widdick Shaw said after seeing the response to her Facebook post. Though maybe that warmth is already there. We just need to make sure we're actively, openly sharing it for all the world to feel and see.

Many people just know Chobani as the company that makes those little cups of greek yogurt goodness.

That's right. Line 'em up! Photo by Meng He/Flickr.

But thanks to Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya, the company is also known for something else — hiring refugees.

Hamdi Ulukaya visiting a refugee camp in Hamburg, Germany. Photo by Michael Gonda/Wikimedia Commons.


This kind of support is important for the nearly 85,000 refugees who entered the U.S. this past year, fleeing their home countries due to extreme poverty, natural disasters, or war. Once stateside, many refugees struggle to find a way to provide for their families while overcoming a language barrier and navigating a slew of cultural differences.

It's an experience Ulukaya knows all too well as a Turkish immigrant of Kurdish descent. Ulukaya moved to upstate New York in the 1990s and by 2007 had turned an $800,000 loan and defunct yogurt factory into the tasty yogurt treat we all know today.

When business picked up and Ulukaya needed more hands, he turned to a nearby refugee resettlement center for help. He offered newcomers transportation and translators as well as salaries above minimum wage. When he opened a second factory in Twin Falls, Idaho, he went around and did the exact same thing.

Today, Chobani employs over 300 refugees. And the company isn't stopping anytime soon.

In 2015, Ulukaya started the Tent Foundation, an alliance of industry leaders that helps displaced refugees from around the world and integrates them into the workforce.

"These actions have inspired us to launch the Tent Pledge and the Tent Challenge," Ulukaya wrote in a CNN Money opinion piece. "The Tent Pledge asks companies all over the world to step up and do more. We're asking them to provide refugees with job training, employment opportunities, and the kind of direct assistance that experts have identified as a priority — everything from blankets and water, to debit cards and Internet access."

Sadly, not everyone was thrilled to hear about Chobani's dedication to helping refugees find work and support their families.

This was just one of many similar tweets calling for boycotts of companies that have made progressive commitments to social justice and equality.

But just as fast as hateful tweets calling for a Chobani boycott started showing up, people responded even faster to show their support for the company.

Mostly people were buying lots of Chobani yogurt and tweeting pics of their bounty:

Try though some people might, there's just no stopping Chobani's commitment to hiring refugees.

On top of Ulukaya's refugee hiring policy and the work of the Tent Foundation, he also started the Giving Pledge, a commitment to give majority of his fortune to aid refugees. Just like in his Tent Pledge, he's tapped the world's wealthiest people to be part of it.

Many people don't understand that refugees and immigrants play an important role in improving the economy — opening small businesses, creating new jobs, and helping raise wages for all workers. Initiatives like Chobani's are a huge step in the right direction, helping refugees get settled and integrated in society. At the end of the day, a little empathy towards refugees, coupled with the right job opportunity, can make all the difference in our success as a country.

In the Illinois senatorial debate Oct. 27, 2016, incumbent Sen. Mark Kirk responded to a challenge about foreign policy with a shocking joke that mocked opponent Tammy Duckworth's mixed-race heritage.

Photo by Gabriella Demczuk/Getty Images.

Duckworth, who was born in Thailand and lost both legs while serving in Iraq, was touting her qualifications in evaluating the need for future military action, citing her family's long history of service:


"My family has served this nation in uniform going back to the Revolution. I'm a daughter of the American Revolution. I've bled for this nation. But I still want to be there in the Senate when the drums of war sound because people are quick to sound the drums of war. And I want to be there to say, 'This is what it costs, this is what you're asking us to do, and if that's the case, I'll go.' Families like mine are the ones that bleed first. But let's make sure the American people understand what we are engaging in, and let's hold our allies accountable because we can't do it all."

To which Kirk responded:

"I had forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington."

After the debate, Duckworth responded on Twitter with a family photo:

The rest of Twitter was ... not so gentle to Kirk.

The comments elicited strong reactions from voters, many of whom were outraged and upset.

Others noted the irony of Kirk having previously been caught of inflating his own military record, including making a false claim that he served in the Gulf War.

Some vowed to take their outrage with them the ballot box.

"Looking white" isn't a prerequisite for having a long, distinguished family history of military service.

Neither is being born in the United States. (Lots of foreigners — Frenchmen, Germans, and Poles in particular — served in the Revolutionary War, FWIW.)

Asian-American soldiers have fought in every major American war since the Civil War, and their representation in uniform is increasing.

Disagreeing over the proper role of the military shouldn't mean disagreeing on who looks like they have the right to join the conversation.

Kirk issued a statement shortly after the debate, affirming his respect for Duckworth's family's service but refusing to walk back his comments.

He tweeted an apology the next day:

The debate about how America should deploy its men and women in uniform is complex and critically important. That debate is not just for white people and hasn't been for decades. One's share of whiteness doesn't track with the amount one is allowed to contribute.

Roughly 7% of Americans — like Duckworth — are multiracial.

Duckworth with another multiracial American you might have heard of. Photo by Jim Watson/Getty Images.

That's about 22 million Americans.

And just like many of them serve their country in times of war, they also serve their country by voting.