Citizenship test

So, it finally arrived, the Danish citizenship test.

I studied it, I passed it and I read countless comments that people made about the nature of the questions in it. I didn't find it hard at all - but my daily task in this world right now is to study the government's version of Danish history so it wasn't surprising. I had 3 wrong answers, two about art (no surprise there either) and one about who can attend official hearings in Court.

This morning I listened to the Danish Minister of (dis)Integration, Ms. Rikke Hvilshøj, on geek radio's morning show. And, notwithstanding all my intentions of not getting upset, I am angrily trembling right now. Minister says the test is to give the foreigners (udlændinge) the opportunity to show that 'this is where I belong'; she says it is not too much to ask of people who want to exchange their citizenship - and by that token acquire rights to vote for parliament; she says the test questions are made to give a broad overview of Danish history, societal development and culture. She says the test doesn't entail a specific interpretation of what it means to be Danish, of what Danishness is. She says we (who?!) are entitled to make demands on new citizens, and this - THIS??! - is what she wants to ask for??! This is not asking, this is making a statement.

I suggest we make a 'welcome test' to be distributed among the population, asking them to answer 28 out of 40 questions right about what it means to live in a globalised world, the historical development of humanity, and how to take responsibility for the society of which you are a part. I suggest that we (who?!) make some claims on the part of the 'indigenous Danes' to show that 'this is where they belong'.

The Minister says that this is not (another) expression of the assimilationist aspirations of the current government. Hun er fuld af lort, for at sige det på RIGTIGT dansk [lit. she's full of shit to put it in REAL Danish]. As the last caller in the radio programme said (with an accent) what's next? You will test me on my ability to eat pork and fly the Danish flag - or my ability to be white?