Who decided to call Obama black? - 'Mixed race' isn't seen as identity

washingtontimes.com ^ | July 8, 2008 | Joseph Curl Posted on 07/08/2008 4:59:23 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY Sen. Barack Obama is the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. So why is he "black"? He is, to be accurate, biracial, equally black and white. Mr. Obama could choose to identify himself in a way similar to golfer Tiger Woods, who describes himself as "Cablinasian" — a mix of his Caucasian, black and American Indian father and his Asian mother (although "Kensan" or "Kanyan" don't have the same ring). Or Mr. Obama could label himself with obvious legitimacy as white - he was, after all, raised by his white mother and white grandparents after his father abandoned the family when he was 2 years old. Yet he describes himself as black, and news organizations around the world have followed suit. The... [read full story]