Is Obama black or multiracial?

Ultimately the writer’s last point is dead on. Obama has the right to decide his own identity (although, on this point, I do find the writer’s comparison of Tiger Woods to Michael Jackson hypocritical – and bizarre). In this case, Obama has said he is black in general, and African-American in particular. However he has certainly also highlighted his multi-racial/ethnic background – contrary to the writer’s suggestion, this does not simply refer to Obama’s diverse recent ancestry. It also refers to Obama’s diverse experiences. In many ways Obama’s story (recent ancestry and experiences) is what he ran on – both for the presidency and his U.S. Senate seat, starting with his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. So, labels aside, to pretend that he is only black or African-American is foolish – Obama himself has said as much in various interviews. For those who want to continue to focus on the U.S. as a black-white society, what to say? People from all over the world are increasingly populating the U.S. This is making it increasingly hard to try and impose simplistic labels on others. Not only do these newer immigrant groups have different views about race and racial classification, some of them might come from countries where mixture has historically been the norm. On this subject, the writer makes another mistake or omission. It is true that most black Americans have “white blood” (and perhaps “red blood” too). But, other groups not defined as black have “black blood”– most anyone from a Latin American country (“red blood” too) or for that matter anyone from the two primary countries that colonized Latin America (Spain and Portugal). Oh, and don’t forget about a substantial part of the white American population. Contrary to the myth that the one-drop rule existed for centuries, it was not until Jim Crow that the color line became utterly rigid. Plenty of white folks already had “black blood” by this time, with more “black blood” entering their ranks as people “passed” through the color line during Jim Crow (none of this gets to all the “black blood” flowing around the Mediterranean before the U.S. was even a thought or the sub-Saharan African origins we all share – call this whatever color of blood you want). Putting Obama aside, I have a question for all you hell-bent on maintaining rigid racial classifications and the black-white narrative. Why not begin demanding – and I mean loudly – that all U.S. citizens be required to take DNA tests? Whether you are a white racist or a black racialist, if everything begins and ends with “black blood” – surely each of you would want this matter clarified. Or would you?