Amid News of Tragedy, Aurora Colo. Connotes an American Melting Pot

 Aurora, Colorado City government

In reaction to what happened on July 20 in Aurora, Colorado; 12 people were killed and many wounded in a shooting rampage, the city where this occurred is under examination.

But in the larger realm of existence, Aurora remains unique. While tragedy has struck, there are lots of things that make the city a place to be.  Aurora is described as an “All American City.” You will see signs saying this when you drive around town. It is not only the signs of welcoming hospitality, diversity, and ingenuity of Aurora; it is a reflection of the people of Aurora, Colorado.

“It’s likely that the victims are of all races and shades, because Aurora is a melting pot,” according to Time magazine’s editor-at-large, David Von Drehle, who hails from Aurora, Colorado.

So, Aurora, Colorado is under scrutiny, with those not familiar with Colorado’s third-largest city, struggling to discover what it is about. Drehle thinks the city has now gotten on the map, but not the way it wanted.

“Aurora has always been a town with a chip on its shoulder — something I say with love because it’s my hometown. It’s the biggest suburb in Colorado, but the fate of suburbs is to be overshadowed,” Drehle wrote in Time magazine on July 20.

That aside, he calls Aurora, “a swing city in a swing state, a place that voted for George W. Bush and for Barack Obama.” Read more at Time magazine.

Portrait of a Suburb: Aurora Gets on the Map — But Not the Way It Wanted