[lbo-talk] Why is Obama never identified as a mulatto?

[Andy]

On Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 3:15 PM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> 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.

There was this exchange in Doonesbury around the time of his election:

White guy: He's half white, you know!
Black guy: You must be so proud.

-- 
Andy