My ds asked this this about Obama....
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Why do they keep calling him the first African American president. Why don't they call him the first bi-racial president?
I didn't have an answer for him but I was thinking the same thing. I told him I would think about it more and then give him an answer. He's 11, btw.
This has bugged me, too. I have the same question.
I have no answer either.
The fact is, Obama's biological father is African, from Kenya. And, bi-racial can mean any mix of races - Asian, Eskimo, Hawaiian, Native American, and so on. So bi-racial is not as definitive as African-American for describing Obama's ancestry and his racial mix.
Personally, I think of him as the first Black president. For most of my life, any person who had Black/African ancestry AND displayed characteristics identified with African-Americans - skin color, hair, facial features - was considered Black or Negro. The polite term a large part of my life was Negro, and you know what the impolite term was. (I do say "African-American" or "person of color" most of the time, but if I'm not thinking about it, I would say "Black".)
I cannot tell you what it means to me and how much I rejoice that this great nation has come to this point. During my teens, a man like Obama would have been, at the least, arrested, and more likely beaten, if he sat down next to me at a diner counter. And now a man of color is the next President of the United States. Whoever you voted for and however you feel about his election, this says something wonderful about this country.
If he looked more caucasin than black would you be saying the same thing?
Bi-racial families are so much more common these days, I do consider him more bi-racial than black or afro-american. So many of my friends are infact with men of another color, with children from that union. Most are predominantly with "black features" but one has three little blonde haired kids. But because I know the parents as mixed, I see the children in the same light...not black or white or asian etc.
10 yrs ago, I don't think I would have thought bi-racial as the term I would pick.
I think what is important is how Obama describes himself, and I truly don't know. And yes, bi-racial families are much more common these days, and accepted. Which is also great.
My understanding is that you go by the father's nationality if you are bi-racial. So, since his father is African-American, maybe this is the reason?? When I fill out a form for my dks, I check hispanic, since my dh is hispanic. My oldest has his dad's darker coloring, but my youngest has really fair coloring that he got from my mom's side(Irish). I know when people see the name Soliz, and then see my ds, they are probably thinking what the heck.
And to be honest, I think, as far as the media is concerned, it sounds better to say first African-American president, then 1st bi-racial president. JMHO
Debbie, I think children go by whatever is the minority. Because it makes them stand out more. He is the 44th white president. I think the term biracial is weird, aren't most of us multiracial by now?
Kaye, why do you say he is the "44th white president"? He is African-American or, if one prefers, bi-racial.
As for most of us being multi-racial, I think that depends on what you think of as "race". My particular ancestry is European - a mix of English, German, French, Scotch and Irish, but these are all national or geographic links, not races. But, I only know of 4 generations, so I could easily be wrong.
For the same reason when I fill out a survey, I have to fill in the blank "White, not hispanic." Race has gotten so bizarrely blurred... I agree he is bi-racial. Another weird note is he is bi-racial, but was raised by white family members, and yet identifies as a black. I think that's kinda the norm though, not necessarily because people want to make themselves stand out, but because having so many minority features makes them stand out. If you grew up being looked at as different than your family because of your features, wouldn't you learn to identify with those features?
IDK, it's great that we have a black president... (I really hate the term "Africa-American" because it symbolizes heritage, not race. One of my favorite people is a white, African-born and raised, American citizen... but I digress) I'm so much less interested in his race than what he will do for us. Who cares about the skin color, or genetic make-up, or heritage anymore?
Still, I looked up the definition of race, and it is "the concept of categorizing humans into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of characteristics. The most widely used human racial categories are based on visible traits (especially skin color, cranial or facial features and hair texture), and self-identification." So, based on THAT definition, because Obama's father's genetic contribution is more prominent than his mother's, and he self-IDs as black, that's what he is. Wikipedia: Race
So based on that Crystal, I would have to say I have 1 white child, and 1 hispanic??? My oldest has dark skin and hair, and my youngest is very fair with light brown hair.
Ginny my point was, he is termed a black president because it is less common. He is as much white as he is black. But I can guarantee that if all the presidents had been black society would of made a big deal of him being white.
As for race vs heritage. It think it boils down to physical characteristics. My inlaws are jewish, you know this by "counting noses". This is there heritage, their race and some of them their religion. I personally think we are spending way to much time trying to figure out what "box" everyone fits into instead of really just going with, he is an American.
On another note. I went to a football game and got a flyer on my car about trying to prove Obama's american citizenship. I don't know who but my guess is a bunch of rednecks  are trying to disqualify him as president based on him being born in Kenya not hawaii as he claims. What a crazy thing!
Debbie, technically, yes, but how would they identify themselves? I bet they identify themselves as Hispanic or Latina/Latino, right? Even though they would explain that they are mixed in conversation, if they filled out a survey they would check "Hispanic"?
Kaye, my maiden name is Jacobs, and although my mother is a great deal Irish, both she and my father have prominent noses (I really want a nose job). My father swore his heritage was Blackfoot N/A and Portuguese, and that there was no Jewish blood, although the family name was Jewish. People have always asked me if I'm a Jew (nope, raised Methodist) and then when I married my ex-husband it made it worse, since our last name is the German ruler, which people also seem to assume is Jewish.
As for Obama's birth, they have already proven it with his birth certificate, which you can view online. Apparently, the rednecks don't know how to use Google, nor do they care about McCain being born in the Panama, or the canal, or where ever that was he was born. ;)
LOL crystal, in my hubby's family literally the give out nose jobs for 18th birthday gifts. I grew up in a small west texas town, everyone was very cowboy white or very hispanic. I knew one black guy, he lived with a white family for a year. So my husbands family opened me up to a whole new world (most of it good..LOL). Anyway, I had heard Jew jokes about noses and had NO IDEA. The first family reunion we went to check into the hotel, and literally I could tell who was related to them by looks. I was so suprised! My hubby is a step child, so he doesn't fit in the picture well..LOL. Anyway, I really just was clueless as to how much of our facial structures could be related to our heritage.
Just an interesting moment in my life and how different life is for my kids. We attended a family wedding, on a beach in hawaii the groom and bride wearing leis instead of typical flowers. The groom very jewish, the wife is japanese. The brides mother wore the whole Japanese outfit, white face, etc. She was beautiful. All the men had custom made yamaka's in hawaian print. So the ceremony was said in 3 languages. It was the neatest thing I have ever seen. Truely the picture of what our world should be one day!
LOL! That's hilarious about his family and the noses!
As for the wedding, that sounds so cool!!! The Hawaiian-print yarmulkes must have been adorable, and I would have loved seeing the full on "Geisha" type dress of the bride's mother! That's not something you see very often (I guess they probably do in Hawaii, but not here on the East coast!) Still, I'm surprised that a "very Jewish" man married a Japanese woman, usually there is such intense pressure to marry within the Jewish faith, and often in Asian cultures as well. Although I suppose she could have converted. I grew up in a town where it seemed everyone was Catholic or Jewish, and I know most of the families I knew in both "camps" were very adamant about marrying someone of that faith, which I used to worry would mean I was SOL with some cute boys!
Actually she did convert. My step MIL has three sons. None of them married a Jewish girl. And only one of them is a religious Jew. When I married my hubby, they tried really hard to convert me. My hubby was really nothing, so I think they thought if I saw "the good life" I might follow. Turns out I am a pretty strong Christian for my own reasons, so not really persuadable. Made for some uncomfortable few years, but things are much better now.
It is sad to me that of all of her grandchildren, only one will be raised in her faith. And that one lives in Japan she doesn't really get to be much a part of it. But that is life. It took me some adjusting to, but we do spend quite a few holidays with his family and being Jewish heritage has become part of who my children are now. Although it doesn't follow their bloodline, it is a little strange. But we say our family gather prayers in hebrew, we celebrate passover, etc.
Crystal, when I fill out a survey, I do mark hispanic for my dks. Dh and I talked about this when our dks were little, and we decided to go by our surname, which is hispanic.
If you ask my dks, they say they are half and half. The way they say it really cracks me up.
Along these lines, we were watching Remember the Titans with the boys. We started to talk about what it meant to be a minority back then. Dh and I were telling the boys that black people had to sit at the back of the bus, and the white people sat in the front. My youngest thought about this for awhile, and then he says, Mom, I wouldn't be able to sit with Jordan and Dad on the bus. I would sit in the front, and since they are brown, they would have to sit in the middle!!! Dh and I totally cracked up. The logic of an 8 yr. old!!
Debbie, I love that story with your 8 yr old.
LOL, that's funny, Debbie! Also, I have noticed lately that some census-type questions now have a check box for mixed race, and eventually we might actually have descriptions for everyone, not just the very broad ones now used.
Won't it be wonderful when we can just check a box for "Human" when designating race?
Ame
I share your thought, Ame. It would indeed be wonderful.
Ditto Ame!
My DH has asked the same thing from the get-go. I see him as a black president, but he is bi-racial I guess technically.
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