[giotto]

why is he "black"?

Because he is black. If his skin was "white" (Caucasian color), and if he still called himself black, you could legitimately ask your question. But suppose Obama, with his black skin, called himself white. Imagine how much flak he'd receive from blacks for dissing his black genes. What's the guy to do?

[bvw]

As a black, he gets 92% of the black vote.

[SampleMan]

But suppose Obama, with his black skin, called himself white. Imagine how much flak he'd receive from blacks for dissing his black genes. What's the guy to do?

Obama is not black, he is brown, as most American "blacks" are. I've worked with black sub-saharan Africans, and they are jet black. A black you just don't see in America.

My daughter has apparently got a bit of coloring from a great grandmother who was Cherokee. She is darker in complexion than one of her friends who's father is Puerto Rican. Guess which one will be considered a minority.

As justice Roberts said, if we desire that people stop being discriminated against by race, we should stop discriminating by race.

[oneamericanvoice]

He’s supposed to say he is mixed, or Mulatto. Simple.

[Polybius]

why is he "black"?

Because he is black.

Well, actually, he is not "black". He is Mulatto and he stands out like a sore thumb next to his black Kenyan relatives.

If his skin was "white" (Caucasian color), and if he still called himself black, you could legitimately ask your question. But suppose Obama, with his black skin, called himself white. Imagine how much flak he'd receive from blacks for dissing his black genes.

What is it about the U.S. that legitimate biracial terms such as "Mulatto" or "Mestizo" are totally verbotten?

Why must everybody in the U.S. be classified as either a glass of milk or a cup of black coffee while everybody pretends that there is no such thing as coffee with cream?