Citizen Families

by Imelda Diouf · May 28, 2024

Imelda Diouf is a South African educator. This series continues to unpack the theme of family relations, using multicultural and multidisciplinary perspectives.

Globally, the month of May is a time to think about and celebrate family. The United Nations and many organisations around the world celebrate International Family Day on 15 May. Usually, the day is observed by raising the concerns of the family. The issues include not only migration, climate change and economics, but also population growth and fertility, education, technologies and justice.

Sometimes (for some people, often) it might feel as though the world is against families who are just trying to get through another day, another week, another month of care and support for each other. An “us versus them” situation; the government, clinics and hospitals, schools, shops and retailers, and the neighbours.

1 Corinthians 1:10 – I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.

For many families, especially in times of difficulty, it is hard to be of the same mind and the same purpose. United in mind and thought is a hard sell, especially when wrongdoing prevails; when injustice is the lived experience.

Justice or injustice; we might want to ask what are family rights within a legal framework. Countries directly or indirectly affect the ways in which family groups live. This includes the right to live together as a unit in a specific geolocation according to a chosen belief.

Media abounds with stories that detail kin separated because of political systems and beliefs; think of the wars currently being fought that separate families temporarily (soldiers who will return from war), or permanently (soldiers who die fighting). There are also families separated because of poverty and the need for some members to migrate to areas where work is available.

The rights of constituent family members; children, mothers and fathers, grandparents, those with specific needs and the disabled, as well as same-sex parents, are all linked to country laws and belief systems. Birth and death, marriage and coming of age, across faiths are mostly celebrated alongside religious practice. Marriage ceremonies can be found in churches, mosques, temples and synagogues; all with the basic tenant of love, unity and commitment. Despite the different belief systems and places of worship, there is a unity of what a commitment to family life offers. Citizens can be united around central themes.

A citizen is someone who belongs to, and is a member of a country and thereby has the right to live and work. Everyone has the right to belong; to a family and to a country. Birthright, however, for some children is a challenge of statelessness and abandonment by state and kin. Increasingly people through poverty, climate changes that bring drought and floods, and unstable political systems, are increasingly being excluded. They no longer belong.

Citizenship is becoming more topical as countries with unstable socio-political and economic status disintegrate and become unsafe for the very people who are citizens of the state. Sudan, Ukraine and Palestine all have dire circumstances for their citizens. Across the world citizens find themselves fleeing situations of criminality, torture and extreme poverty.

Citizens have the right to choose their public representatives; they have the right to vote for those who will develop and manage laws that will protect the rights and needs of families.

We might want to consider the dynamics not only of private rights but also public rights. Churches have an important role to play in addressing the issue of family rights. Churches need to acknowledge that belief systems within the home are influenced by the broader societal issues. Citizenship is played out not only within the four walls of a home, but beyond the front door, the gate and the fence that surround a family.

Countries must be protective and supportive of all citizens. Countries need to treasure the basic units that help to maintain structures of care and support.

May month is therefore an opportune time to consider the citizen family.