Why is obama said to be black when he has a purely white mother?

[cagithi]

I would say he refers to his self as Black, because he may be half and half (white and Black)but I suspect that the general public in America would refer to him as a Black man (Media). I have notice in America that if you have black skin (even if not full black then you are referred to as Black ). You know that no body would ever call him white. America Media like to keep things simple and easlier to refer to him as Black.

Within the UK , we tend to refer to Mixed Race, in America they dont really use the term as much. I have similar mixing as Obama, as my father is Kenya and my mother is White European, in the UK I am referred to as Mixed Race, but my boyfriend has family in the US and we go over on holiday frequently and I am always referred to as Black . If you ever fill in forms it just states Black descendant or white . I think if you spoke to him persnally he would not just refer to his self as Black. But lets face it , if we were in America and Obama was in a room with a white guy that looked the same as him, height , fame , clothing etc, and sombody had to refer to him, they would say, see the black guy over there .

[judo chop]

wow, old thread but very interesting. I'm going to show my ignorance here but i always thought it was a pride thing. Blacks have been through hell and been mistreated throughout history, particularly by whites, so i always thought someone with mixed blood was acknowledging their pride in their black heritage by calling themselves black. Not to say they wouldn't be proud of their white family also, but white's haven't been through the same struggle as blacks.

My son is black/white and i'm sure he will appreciate his entire blood line, but i have no problem with him holding his head high one day and saying "i am a black man".

This thread has some really interesting observations and facts.

[Raj Patel]

If you put feces in a glass milk, do you consider it half milk or half feces or just feces? Many people consider it just feces. The same thing happens when you mix Black and White. Many people consider the offspring as Black.

[judo chop]

i prefer to put Milo in milk, but feel free to drink what ever beverege takes your fancy....mmmm enjoy!