On Mar 14, 2012, at 2:41 PM, ken hanly wrote:
> Better I should have asked: Why is Obama identified as an African American rather than of mixed ancestry or something of the sort.
One-drop rule. It still dominates the national consciousness, and not just among whites. Obama called himself "black" on his 2010 Census form, and academic/columnist/budding TV star Melissa Harris-Perry identifies as black despite having a white parent.
Doug