But a new appreciation could be found Wednesday in Dauphin County Court, where about 50 foreign-born nationals from 25 countries renounced their homelands in favor of this country.

Ivanka Ribic came from war torn Bosnia with her two children. She is now American and proudly so.

"I really love this place, love this country, love these people," she said.

Sally Kamau lives in Hummelstown but hails from Kenya. She has been all smiles since the son of a Kenyan was elected President of her new home.

"I know now when they say that in this country you can become anything that you want to be, I know now that is true," she said.

William Awuol is from Sudan. He too is thrilled at the Obama Presidency and is claiming a piece of Obama's ancestry.

"His great grandfather, they were from southern Sudan where I cam from, and then they move to Kenya."

But on this day, where they're from is not nearly as important as where they've come. For many, it's been years of toil and testing.

"They weren't just born here," Judge Bruce Bratton said. "They had to climb to get into a boat to join us here and most Americans do take it for granted."

Bratton welcomed the newest Americans, but noted that his words are not as powerful as last week's election results to people of color.

Maybe it takes people from other countries to remind us that despite a struggling economy and a couple wars and other problems, America is still the greatest hope on Earth.

Email To A Friend