Why is it that we are calling him our first black president, when he\'s only half black? I mean if he was lighter in skin tone would he still be considered a black president? He\'s half white...
And another thought. Why is the fact that it\'s so incredible that a black person can get into office not racist?
Saying he\'s our first half-black president doesn\'t sound as good. For what people are trying to say, calling him half-black sounds like we\'re still not ready to have a black president.
It\'s not good P.R.
The media is all about ratings and if people will tune in to hear about our progress in becoming less racist as a nation, then it will continue to be repeated.
You ask why it\'s not racist that we point it out. That\'s not what being racist is. Noticing that the new president is black or half-black is not racist. It\'s a racial topic, but it\'s not mean or negative in any way, you\'re just talking about stats and trends and history. We could even talk about SLAVERY without being racist. So, this doesn\'t qualify either.
Back to your initial question, it also seems like socially we\'ve accepted calling mixed black/white people black. Even a person with really light skin could claim to be black with mixed parents. This is a good example of why "african american" is really a better term than just "black." Calling Obama our first president with African heritage would probably be more accurate than calling him our first black president.
