I have a great deal of trouble envisioning the "American" PEOPLE  as a single homogenized entity as well as thinking of them as a "Family", each and all of them related.  Yes, perhaps the American people are such.  I think maybe the analogy of them as a family might work.  But reality tells me neither term, people or family, accurately describes what America includes. America became a country and through violence formed a unique nation.

Let me tell you about family, clan, tribe and THEN, nation.  It used to be that the Europeans who came to this land, especially the English speaking ones, repressed their different backgrounds, religions and beliefs and set off to create homes for themselves and were tolerant of the other English speaking ones even if they were of other religions and beliefs.  There was sort of a leavening that took place as unregulated expansion invited them to go forth and oust the Native Americans to found villages, towns and cities. And, they brought with them their differences evolved from their ancestors that created unique families, clans and tribes.  Nationhood was either forced on them or accidentally was allowed to grow because history happened.  That nation is neither a single people nor a family.

Clans formed of related families also nurtured feuds that were either real or imagined.  These were the baggage brought to this country. They have never gone away. The names change.  The labels change.  People remain the same they were. Roughly, there are two basic differences - perhaps they are Liberal and Conservative.

America is not an amalgam. It is not like the chemical result when two basic atoms join to create a new thing; a compound.  The people who make up the individuals, families and clans retain their identities and sometimes, unfortunately 'compound' the differences.  The American experiment with democracy is an example of this.  There are those who want change and other want to retain the status quo.  There are different philosophies and different politics that change over time yet never has one belief, one philosophy, one single practice color ALL Americans.  In fact, it is still color that separates even though the incoming President is such an amalgam, such a compound.  He is neither white nor black but a combination and this fact, holds promise of a future of America where differences are less important than likenesses.

The American people are a fact although they are not yet one family.  They are a nation because history has allowed the different parts to establish that fact.  Fortunately, those differences have not prevented them from choosing an experiment with a leader who might be the amalgam or the compound of something new, good and lasting.  We have still remained one nation although the label has changed in the short run.

The experiment in electing a man whose father was African and not American is an exciting one.  He seems to have united the country in such a way as to create a people.