The United States of America has a new president, and, yes, he is an African-American. Thousands of citizens gathered under the midday D.C. sun to watch as a highly intelligent, exceptionally driven Barack Obama took up the position of Commander-in-Chief and spoke to the country like a man who deserved the title.

Did I mention he is African-American? The first African-American to become President of the United States, actually. We all know this. We knew it in November. He was voted to the office of President by a majority of Americans. I can’t imagine people didn’t notice then he was a black man. Why is this small fact eclipsing what he has done to become President, or what he plans to do while in office? In his 20-minute speech, President Obama did not tiptoe around what his administration aims to accomplish during his time in office, but that isn’t what people seemed concerned with.

For the first time in my life I had the privilege of watching my President speak to me and my fellow citizens, and not at us. I also appreciated the diction and command of syntax that the President displayed, something the former president of eight years never quite mastered.

Interviews with people attending the inauguration ceremony were, sadly, uninspired. One after another got their minute and a half of fame and all spoke of nothing but the color of his skin. What an insult to the content of his character.

I tuned in to the speech expecting to see a vast sea of Americans hanging on his every word, enraptured by his ability to conjure that intangible feeling of freedom and liberty that America stands for. I witnessed very little of that. Were we expecting happy words, a 30-minute hearkening back to Martin Luther King, Jr., and his dream? Did we as a nation want a feel-good-pat-on-the-back speech praising the “huge stepsâ€Â the country has taken to so graciously elect a black man President?

The message President Obama so eloquently communicated was exactly what I would have expected given the promises made during his campaign. He placed blame, scorned complacency, condemned laziness and promoted responsibility. He painted a picture of greatness earned by hard work, honesty and transparency. Greedy Wall Street types, crooked political minds, wasteful government officials and we, the lackadaisical people, were warned.

President Obama made it clear to all that the United States of America is, in fact, a nation for the people, by the people. From where I was sitting, I didn’t see the people respond to this as one might have expected. The American people so keen on change just a few months back, seemed to dread his words more than celebrate them. Maybe they were confused on what was going to change. We were all for the “feel good” story, the racial boundaries broken, but it seems very few are ready for the cold reality that the President splashed in our faces.

So this is the impasse we find ourselves at as a people, a culture. The American public is so used to having things done for them, they neither recognize nor want to bother undertaking the “…duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly…â€Â.

Citizens today do not relish their citizenship, nor do they understand just how important it is to be a responsible citizen.

I speak in generalities, of course, but this is a nation based on the majority. The majority of people I talk to about these issues aren’t strong enough in their convictions to “seize gladlyâ€Â the duties which make this country special. In our consumer-driven minds, the only thing that really matters is having the newest version of the iPhone or that unbelievably expensive Coach purse.

In my opinion, and with all due respect, I don̢۪t think the American people fully grasp the ideas or the implications of what President Obama spoke of in his inauguration speech. He is the first African-American President. Drink it in, feel good for a bit. Now, we must look at the world around us and see the gravity of what the President speaks of. Most people don̢۪t seem ready to bite the bullet and endure hard times, even if the good of the nation is at stake. The ball of responsibility has been squarely placed in the people̢۪s proverbial court, President Obama has blown the starting whistle and the clock is ticking.