Black, White, Asian, Hispanic: A crowd of hundreds congregated in front of the giant screen in Marion Square this morning, as diverse as the country in which we are citizens. Wearing trendy pea coats, brightly colored fleeces, casual jean jackets, suits, college sweatshirts, camouflage, pearls, nose rings, and everything and anything in between, the viewers represented the movement that is responsible for electing the man who is as of this day, the first African American president of the United States of America. Although they were not speaking out loud, the attendees’ facial expressions said it all: he is one of us, finally. He is a mutt. And at the end of the day, aren’t we all? Most of us can try to trace our family lineage, but for many Americans, the lines have become so blurred it is nearly impossible; if we try hard enough, we can claim some of everything. There is that great great great aunt on mom’s side who was Cherokee Indian, and that crazy cousin who emigrated from Guatemala. But racial lines aside, it is safe to say the majority of people in the crowd had other things in the back of their minds: mounting student loans, mortgages, suffering small businesses, the safety of their jobs. Their hopes and dreams for the future lie with this man, whose blood does not run the color blue of his predecessor and most of his colleagues. He understands us, they are thinking. A person who has never had $30,000 worth of debt cannot and will never fully comprehend what it is like to have that burden weighing on you. It is easy to have a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps,” mentality when a trust fund is paying for law school. This man, although he may not be able to fulfill every last campaign promise, will at least keep us at the forefront of his attention, because he is one of us and yes we can. —Cara Kelly
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