The statistic reported to the government would have been “Negro,” but that didn’t mean “African” couldn’t have been on the birth certificate if it was the answer the mother gave. This was Hawaii, where “Chinese,” “Japanese,” “Filipino,” “Korean,” “Porto Rican,” and other “races” appeared on birth certificates. In 1961 there were reasons why a mother or her parents would prefer to use the word “African,” rather than “Negro,” and a hospital clerk might well have gone along with that.
There is no record of Barry or Stanley Ann Dunham being in any Washington State or Hawai'i hospital in 1961, for prenatal, birthing or post-natal care.