I come to you today as the son of a mixed race couple, of a white father and a Hispanic mother. And yet, I feel allegiance to neither. I look at my father and say, yes, he is white. And I look upon my mother and say, yes, she is Hispanic.

Yet I, the child of both, am neither. I am not white, nor am I Hispanic. I am both. I am not a Mexican-American, nor a white-American. Rather, I am just an American.

This is, I believe, something rather unique to our nation. If I had to assign a label, I suppose I would be a Mexican-American, but that does not begin to tell the whole truth.

I am devoutly sectarian, and devoutly American. I read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and see those words (of, originally, unilaterally white opinion) as the closest thing I can consider as gospel.

History easily shows us that we have not always followed those guidelines. It took almost 100 years after the Constitution was written for Lincoln to deliver the Emancipation Proclamation that granted equal rights to all people. And it was another 100 years before we actually accepted that proclamation.

I admit that my rhetoric is brought forth by an eloquent speech made by Barack Obama. Even if you have no intention of voting for him, you could nary spend 40 minutes worse than listening to his speech on YouTube.

Many pundits and columnists have labeled it as the best political speech since JFK’s speech on his Catholicism. Having listened to it, it is hard to disagree. It is a wonderful speech about what this country is and what it still hopes to become.

To be honest, I have never felt like an outcast. Though my last name of Gruenenfelder might lead you to think otherwise, I am indeed half Hispanic, or Mexican, or Latino or whatever. I look at my father and he is most definitely white. I look at my mother and she is most definitely Hispanic. Yet I am neither.

Of course, I grew up and spent my first 25 years in the Southwest. Surely this will color my opinion. Arizona has, especially of late, not looked fondly at its mixed heritage, but it is there nonetheless.

I do not feel put off by this. Rather, I consider myself an American. I am a product of those who came before me. I read the Constitution and wholeheartedly believe that our forefathers had remarkably forward thinking ideals – ideals which I believe in and wish to uphold.

I am not white, nor am I Hispanic. I am both, and I am an American. A wholly unique demographic shared by those people who are children of this land, half native, half immigrant or otherwise. I feel no less American than those who have lived here for five generations. Indeed, my Hispanic grandmother has just become a great great grandmother. Is she no less American than I?

My Hispanic grandfather speaks with a decidedly Mexican accent, fought bravely in World War II in the European theater, and spent his career as a miner.

Despite his accent, is he less of an American? Certainly not. Nor is my white grandfather who fought in the Pacific theater. They both placed their lives on the line for this nation, something I cannot say the same of myself.

Locally, we have non-white American influences. Our library, the most easily recognizable structure on campus, is named after W.E.B. Du Bois, a prominent African American. And yet, having traveled the halls of the library, there is little to relate to the person other than his name.

I enjoy greatly the freedoms I am afforded in this country. Our land is not without its faults, something anybody who keeps up with the news is readily aware, yet I would no sooner denounce my citizenship than I would stop breathing.

I am frequently reminded of our nation’s original and supremely appropriate motto, “E Pluribus Unum.” Out of many, one. If you look at the broad cross-section of our nation, is that motto, chosen hundreds of years ago in 1782, not still appropriate? Of all our creeds and ethics, have we not formed a single country?

My father is American, as are my grandfathers, my mother and my grandmothers. I feel no allegiance to my Mexican roots any more than I do to my distant European roots in Sweden. I do not disown my heritage, but personally, the here and now have always held greater importance to me.

As Senator Obama stated in his speech, race relations are “a part of our union that we have not yet made perfect.” We can, if we try, make this a more perfect union. Remember that we are a nation of one from many. E Pluribus Unum.

John Gruenenfelder is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].