Race relations

Add comment February 3rd, 2009

I heard about a phone call we received late last week during which it was suggested we should refer to President Barack Obama as “biracial” rather than “African-American.” My first reaction to this sort of thing is to wonder what prompted it, but it’s not my job to try to determine motivation.

My simple suggestion for what to call Obama: How about “the president”?

As for the other terms: Webster’s defines “African-American” as “an American having ancestors from sub-Saharan Africa.” The president is an American citizen (I know, some people are still trying to prove otherwise), and his father was from Kenya — that’s in Africa and south of the Sahara. So “African-American” sounds accurate to me.

As for “biracial,” Webster’s defines it as “consisting of or involving two races, especially blacks and whites.” That certainly can apply to Obama, too, although it’s less accurate: There are combinations of two races that would not apply to him at all.