"That's Leaving It Pretty Much Up To Jane": Gendered Citizenship, Explicit Feminism, And Implicit Racism In The 1922 Cable Act

Abstract

In 1922, Congress passed the Cable Act, which allowed women who married foreigners eligible for naturalization to retain their U.S. citizenship. However, women who married aliens racially excluded from the naturalization process lost their U.S. citizenship. This study examines newspapers, periodicals, and Congressional debate from 1920-1923 to determine the presence of implicit and explicit racial reasoning in commentary surrounding the Cable Act. In doing so, this research builds upon an existing body of literature that addresses the power of racial hierarchy in gendered conceptions of citizenship. In addition, it will consider what scholars have failed to address: the absence of overt racial dialogue in public discourse surrounding the Cable Act.