Why do people accept Barack Obama as African-American?

You should read my statement above carefully, since when I referred to Barack Obama, it was in the context of having mixed parentage. In the early 20th century that was referred to as mulatto. It was not a pejorative term at that time. And, he would not have been referred to as "Colored," (referring to your photograph posted) as were children of marriages where both parents were Black. I don't believe one should be offended by historical facts, especially on a forum that is supposed to value intellectual honesty.

And Europe is much more evolved in terms of their forms. There are about ten separate categories: Black- African, Black- West Indian, White- European, Asian, Multiracial, etc.
In fact, it's kind of ironic, but the tables were turned there. I always had to check other myself because the one category they didn't have was White-North American or White/American.

I don't know if this is true, but prior to the early 1970's Jews were on Affirmative Action quotas. Then they were taken off because the definition of a minority for Affirmative Action was "disadvantaged" minority.

"The fact that most Jewish applicants were Eastern European Jews rather than German Jews as before was not lost on medical school admissions committees as frightened of the "new" immigration as the rest of American society. In the early 1920's a backlash began. The first manifestation was the creation of quotas at many elite private colleges. Soon quotas appeared in medical schools and other areas of professional and graduate training (numerous references page 418). By the late 1930s and early 1940s, rigid quotas were found throughout medical education. In the early 1940s, 3 out of every 4 non-Jewish students were accepted, in contrast to 1 out of 13 Jewish students." p 64 The text goes on to note that even the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania discriminated vs Jews. On the bright side New York University and Tufts resisted these quotas despite great pressure.

aidan wrote:

And Europe is much more evolved in terms of their forms. There are about ten separate categories: Black- African, Black- West Indian, White- European, Asian, Multiracial, etc.
In fact, it's kind of ironic, but the tables were turned there. I always had to check other myself because the one category they didn't have was White-North American or White/American.

Really? I live here now 59 years and never noticed that someone asked me for anything else than my nationality.

And there are really forms where you have to fill that out ...

If people are going to label others- they should be precise in their labels.
And if people want to label themselves - let them label themselves whatever it is they most feel they are- and trust that they know what the heck they're doing.

Walter Hinteler wrote:

aidan wrote:

And Europe is much more evolved in terms of their forms.

I can only speak for the UK Walter.

[...]

I do think and did feel when I lived in England and traveled in Europe that all race, in terms of the color of anyone's skin, was much less of an issue.
There, my impression is it's not so much based on race as it is on nationality.
[...]

I was referring to your "And Europe is ..."

At least in Germany and surrounding countries you won't find any form asking you for race.

I think, not only nationality but even regional and/or more even more narrow local origin is an European issue.
Which is often a ridiculous prejudice, seldom true but quite appropriate .... in sports for instance, or food.

Tell me if I'm wrong, but Barack Obama is bi-racial; that's all.

Tell me if I'm wrong, but Barack Obama is bi-racial; that's all. He is only Black if one subscribes to the racial "one-drop" concept. So, if America is not to be considered racist against Barack Obama, shouldn't he be bi-racial, not African-American (aka Black)?

Plus, having been raised by the Caucasian part of his parentage, why is he seen as a Black American? I mean children of divorce many times identify with the parent that had custody and raised the child.

And, since Black America is very aware of the racial inequities of American history, why does Black America now get to seemingly subscribe to the "one-drop" racial paradigm and claim that Barack Obama is Black? I'm not talking about all Black Americans, but I would believe a large enough percentage for the mass media to jump on the bandwagon that Barack Obama is Black.

Barack Obama is bi-racial. Bi-racial is not Black; it is bi-racial. Being a child of a mixed race marriage, is not like being a child of a mixed religious marriage where it can be claimed by the child that he/she chose one religion over the other, or parents can say they are raising the child in one faith or the other.

By the way, if Barack Obama was running in the early 20th century, he would not have been identified as just Black or African-American. There was a specific term used for children of bi-racial marriages; used by both Whites and Blacks, and no one was insulted. But today, he is bi-racial; that's all, unless, I believe, one still (probably innocently) accepts the Ante-Bellum Southern racial paradigms.

Who cares what color he is! He says he is black. I figure he ought to know. :wink:

Near as I can figure it if you can locate any Black genes in your blood line and and wish to identify as black, your in. There might be some bottom limit, such as your skin being noticeably tan, but I don't know. I have seen some claim to be black who genetically can be more than 20% black, so it is not a majority thing.

I am genetically 5% American Indian....Maybe I should be Indian next week. After that Irish sounds fun.

I understand Foofie's point. I would have appreciated having my input (in terms of half of his chromosomes, nine months spent in my body and twelve hours of labor to give him life) recognized instead of having it negated with a flick of her pen, when that woman labeled my son "black".

I actually prefer the term INTERRACIAL to BIRACIAL though. I think it speaks more to the fact that two races have intertwined to create this new person whereas biracial sounds like two races maintaining some kind of separateness.

But Foofie - don't you think he has to call himself black in our country? It's interesting to me that black people will accept the part of him that's white and still agree to call him black while white people would never accept the part of him that's black and agree to call him white...he'd be laughed out of town if he tried to convince anyone he was as much white as he is black and so could choose the caucasian label for himself.
I'm sure he calls himself black because he knows that in this country - that's how the majority of people see him.

And Europe is much more evolved in terms of their forms. There are about ten separate categories: Black- African, Black- West Indian, White- European, Asian, Multiracial, etc.
In fact, it's kind of ironic, but the tables were turned there. I always had to check other myself because the one category they didn't have was White-North American or White/American.

aidan wrote:

If people are going to label others- they should be precise in their labels.
And if people want to label themselves - let them label themselves whatever it is they most feel they are- and trust that they know what the heck they're doing.

People label themselves with-in the choices they believe are open to them, so global views on categories is extremely important. I for one would like to get away from the race divisions all together. Red/Blue is good, cat/dog would be better. Who says cultural divisions need to be about country of origin and race?

I thought a marriage is "interracial," while a person may be "bi-racial"?

And just for the record - in Jim Crow south - being a "mulatto" was even more looked down upon than being full black-like the children who were fathered by the American soldiers in Viet Nam with Vietnamese women- no one knew quite what to do with them or think about them.
And white women who "had relations" with black men had their white children taken from them (if they'd had a prior marriage to a white man and had borne children).
So "mulatto" has always carried very figuratively and literally negative connotations.

... ANY black blood in a person