A short, squat, dark man stands silently at the street corner. Other parade-watchers loiter behind the roped-off streets. Children, decked in red, white, and blue face-paint clutch small flags while slurping on their ice-cream cones. A Des Moines police officer in a reflective vest politely asks a woman to keep her child away from the parade route. The swarthy man and his family contrast to the ribbon of predominately white faces. Yet other than his skin tone, no one particularly takes notice of him. He's dressed in slacks and a button-down shirt, a bit faded. He's lost in his thoughts, watching the Fourth of July parade. He's the American dream, walking.
