California is not its own nation-state

By Michael Hernandez

“California is not its own nation-state.”   Governor Gavin Newsom stop using this slogan!  The slogan is not new.  His use of the term began during his State of the State Address on Feb. 12, 2019—just five weeks into his new job as California Governor.

During the last few weeks, Newsom has repeatedly referred to California as a “nation-state.”  The Governor did so on March 15 when announcing school closures “in a nation-state with six plus million children” and on April 7 when he told MSNBC that a deal to buy personal protective equipment for workers was “made possible by California’s enormous purchasing power as a nation-state.”

Governor Newsom does this mean California is “sovereign” or independent of the United States?  If so, this will only can to lead to more Californians leaving the State since they are proud Americans or joining the movement to divide the State into several States independent of you.  Or are you suggesting a return to Mexico since that is our mother nation?

For those who need the California history lesson, in 1846, a group of American settlers rebelled against Mexican authorities and declared a Republic of California.  Then in September 1850, California became a State within the United States.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a nation-state is “a sovereign state whose citizens or subjects are relatively homogeneous in factors such as language or common descent.”

In an April 11th letter to the editor printed by the Los Angeles Times, James P. Rudolph, a California attorney from La Jolla who worked for the Clinton and Obama Administrations writes:  “A nation-state is a country.  California, like all states, is not a nation-state…Newsom, for the sake of clarity and constitutional deference, should stop using the term.”

The University of Southern California History Professor William Deverell calls Newsom’s description of California as a nation-state “a recognition of that tension which has been exacerbated in recent years by the blueness of California and the redness of the (Trump) administration.”

According to Henry Brady, dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, “California is a state.  California is not a sovereign country.”

Governor Newsom stop calling California it’s own nation-state!  You are not President!  Stop giving yourself federal and Constitutional authority as written in the United States Constitution!

Meanwhile, Governor Newsom in his daily press briefing on April 14, said he calls California a “nation-state” because of “geographic distances,” its “rural and urban construct,” population density, large landmass, and because different part of the state are “so distinct and unique.”

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal.

Michael Hernandez, Co-Founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service; editor of the History Makers Report and founder of History Makers International—a community nonprofit serving youth and families in Ventura County, is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. He worked 25 years as a middle school teacher in Monrovia and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted by email at [email protected].

Get CitizensJournal.us Headlines free  SUBSCRIPTION. Keep us publishing. – DONATE