Pledge took on special meaning

Editor’s note: This is the second half of a two-part column. The first half ran Feb. 22.

Just before 10 a.m., the bailiff steps forward to explain a few things. He looks a lot like the late George Carlin: Hair balding on top, a gray-haired ponytail and a billy-goat beard.

Bailiff Carlin explains that for an event like this, all the rules of photography — including cellphone photography — do not apply. Take all the pictures you want.

A few minutes later, Girl Scout Junior Troop 20049 presents the colors. After placing the flags, the girls sit in the jury box to watch the proceedings.

The judge — Thomas M. Hardiman of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals — then welcomes everyone. After an assistant U.S. attorney offers a motion to the court for citizenship, it is time for the oath.

Half the courtroom rises. The other half — our half — starts to tear up. We know we are witnessing something remarkable, a moment of transformation for these individuals but also a moment of affirmation for us as Americans. It is an embrace.

The oath itself is serious stuff, renouncing allegiance to the countries of their birth and pledging loyalty to the United States of America. Tears are flowing on both sides of the aisle.

Fifty-one are taking the oath today, and Judge Hardiman points out that 47 of those are changing their names at the same time, perhaps as a rite of passage. Upon taking the oath, our friend Svetlana Kulikova becomes Lana Kulik. It’s simpler, she says, and it requires less explaining.

Following the oath, Kevin Bolding, president and chief executive officer of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, delivers a welcoming address to the new citizens. Bolding, who is black, acknowledges that when this nation was founded his ancestors could not be citizens. It took generations and a bloody civil war for that to come about.

As is traditional, one of the new citizens is asked to make a response on behalf of the group. A young man named Ricardo, who was born in Panama, has volunteered at the last moment. He talks about the country of his birth and he talks about his new country in heartfelt terms.

“Here,” says Ricardo, “everyone has a chance.”

Then it’s time for some comments from David Maxwell, who chairs the naturalization committee of the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh, which is coordinating the ceremony. As a Rotarian, I find myself momentarily startled and proudly surprised that the Pittsburgh club is addressing immigration.

Maxwell too points out that the country’s history when it comes to the issue of naturalization and immigration has been rocky at times.

It’s rocky now, he adds, making reference to politics and rhetoric outside the courthouse walls. But in the end, he says, choking up, America ultimately gets it right.

He’s followed by Rebecca Kretschmann of the League of Women Voters, who points to the history of women’s suffrage and proudly tells the group that her grandparents were immigrants and went through the same naturalization process.

Judge Hardiman, in welcoming the new citizens, also urges them to hold on to the traditions and culture and history of their native lands. If they do that, he says, they’ll make America richer and stronger. The judge also points out the importance in American civic life of the groups represented today: The YMCA, the Girl Scouts, the League of Women Voters, Rotary and all of the other service clubs that add texture to the American experience.

And then it’s time for the Girl Scouts to lead all those assembled in the Pledge of Allegiance.

The words are familiar, but never have they been delivered with more pride and more joy.

Not to mention a few tears.