Referring to President Obama by his race is prejudicial. (But mentioning that he was born in Hawaii shows Hawaiian Pride!)

He's the first President (of America) who has a significant amount of "Black" in him. No, no it's not. It's more of a miracle considering the sheer number of Racists America has.

Good point. And I think Obama did a great job of running as the most qualified candidate and did not position himself as a "black" president.

Outsider's opinion: The novelty factor will wear off eventually. Still, it's very significant that the US has a black president with racial segregation being such a recent phenomenon. I think that people referred to him as a black president with pride - they are taking it as a clear sign that the US has grown past its racist days.

I agree with rcasha. It shows how far we have come as a Nation. I am very proud that Obama won, I was hoping for Hillary, but oh well......... Moongrim makes a good point also. I am a white american that is not a racist. I was raised to treat people the way they treat me no matter what their skin color is. For that I am very grateful to my Mom and Grandma. I'm sure before too long he will be refered to as President Obama instead of America;s Black President. It is a first and is a giant step for race relations. As messed up as this country is right now, I can honestly say I am very proud to be an American. I always have been but sometimes my pride shines brighter and stronger, this is one of those times!

Well, if everyone stopped talking about everyone else's skin color in all situations then maybe there would be a time when everyone just saw everyone else as human and nothing else. I don't like all the talk about who is black, who is white, who is Mexican, and who is whatever. All of that just helps to feed the fire of racism.

I am of Armenian descent, have olive skin and I am old. If you call me a person of color and say I am old how is that prejudiced? JFK was the first Catholic president and he was referred to as such...was that prejudiced? Lieberman was the first Jewish person to be nominated as a vice-preidential candidate and was referred to as such...similarly, Geraldine Ferraro was the the first female to be nominated as Vice President...all of those are facts and I find no prejudice in stating a fact my friend. I am old, Lieberman is Jewish and JFK was catholic. Our President is black, white, eurasian..he is all of us in one bag..he embodies all of us. He is referred to as black because America is the same place that has an active KKK who used to hang people of color and brag about it. The fact that our president is black is something that brings pride to me, as an American!

I understand totally. I think the big thing about him being black is he is the first black president Just as Margaret Thatcher was always refferred to as the Woman Prime Minister

It's all politics...pure and simple. +5

President Obama is neither black or white. he is both. Mixed. This is great. this way, we have a Presient that understands issues facing both black and white Americans.

No, it's just stating a fact -- that in actuality is a bit more complicated. As others have pointed out, the President is of mixed race ancestry. He generally identifies himself as African American or black, while making it clear that he's very proud of his white and Asian American relatives. As to why he identifies himself as black, I had an amazing boss once and our work intersected at one point with the question of how people of mixed race ancestry categorize themselves. Her reaction made a lot of sense -- "People identify with the group that most closely matches their own probability of successfully hailing a cab." Given the complicated (to say the least) history of race in the United States, there are lots of twists and turns. And you're right that it shouldn't matter that a Presidential candidate is black -- but that's why we talk about the fact that he won. Because it shouldn't matter at all, and it did matter every other time in our history, but with his election, for the very first time in our history, it didn't. We're kind of proud of that. One nice thing is that even people who opposed his candidacy and oppose his policies now take a little bit of pride in that fact, too. It's like we grew up a bit. Nice.

I agree. His race should be irrelevant. You didn't hear anyone saying "We have another white President" when Bush was in office, did you?

To me he iÅ› just ¨the President¨...he is a guy we hired to watch over the interests of the people for the next 4 years. If he screws up we will fire him - if he succeeds we will extend his contract another 4 years. I know that he is half black - or half white if you prefer - and it means zero to me, I work with 3 people of mixed race daily - and they seem to get the job done as good as anyone else around here. We have a few minorities running around the office here too - they seem to handle the crap we do like anyone else... Race means crap to me - but I know to some people it does - not many people - but some - and all I have to say is that's their hangup and not mine..I have real worries to attend to. Now, is calling Obama Black a bad thing? I don´t know, you could call me a white guy till hell freezes over and I would not care one bit - because I have white skin - and to people with normal vision I look white. Yeah, its cool that we have our first ¨Black¨ President, but somebody had to be first at it eventually didn't they? Someday a woman will be President, and there will be a native American President, and a Jewish President, and an Agnostic President and so on and so on. None of this will be anything special - this is just the realities of the world at work...this is normal. Don´t worry about race or sex or religion when it comes to being a president - just choose the best person you can for the job and run with it...because nobody really cares about that stuff anymore.

Years ago, people with black skin couldn't even go to the same school with people who had white skin. Pluse 100 years ago we had slaves from Afirca so highlting a black leader shows how far our country has come.

It is acceptable in America to call someone a black person. Some also go by Afro American, either one of them are generally accepted in the United States. So to say is it alright to say we have a black president, I don't think that would be very objectionable in the U.S.A.

It's marketing. They are trying to sell him to African nations so we can continue intentionally screwing over that continent.

You would think so, but it seems to be "hip" instead. +5

yes, i wish they would stop talkin about the fact that he is black, and start talking about the fact that he isnt a patriot, or a leader.

...Yeah, but nobody around here has figured that out yet... but the fact of the matter is...the blacks always use the term black...and celebrate people being black...and have holidays that are black...and stuff...you know...when they stop doing that...then we can finally move on in the revolution of "people"

I don't think it's prejudicial. Race has history in America (as in most countries). It is significant historically that a black man was elected. Yes, in an absolute sense, these things are irrelevant to his qualifications, but it's a recognition of progress to say "hey, it finally happened!". People can make too much of that, of course.

I don't think you understand the nature of Americans, they are racist to the core. This is a big deal. Just think that this is supposed to be the most powerful, advanced and wealthiest society and only in 2008 does it elect its first black president. Never mind that there has never been a woman on that position. What does that tell you about the bunch?

In America, "black" is used as a descriptive term relating to a person's ethnic origin. For a long period of American history, people were subjected to the "one drop rule", in which all people of mixed race were considered equally "non-white" and were thus subjected to the same violence and legal persecution, no matter their particular ethnic makeup or personal history. There is a shared history in the "black experience" that defines both how blacks self identify and how they are viewed by others. In America, the term "black" refers more to how a person is classified by others, than their particular ethnic origin or skin color. President Obama may be mixed race, but he is seen as black by the people. To declare this is not prejudicial, it is simply a definition. The milestone of electing a black President is significant in terms of the shared American experience. For almost two hundred years, the nation was stained by the marginalization, and violent domination of millions of people of color. This sin caused deep rifts in society, leading to the America's worst ever war, and later mutated itself into government sanctioned murder and terrorism. The wounds of slavery run very very deep in America, and the election of a President, who would have been whipped, separated from his family for life, beaten, stripped of property, falsely tried for rape, disenfranchised, lynched, and generally terrorized had he been born at different points in the nation's short history, is very significant.

no it's observational

Tis news and merely indicative of where we are in history.

Absolutely right! You'd be surprised at the number of prejudiced people that live in the U.S. There are whites that don't like blacks, blacks that don't like whites or Hispanics (of any color), and it goes on and on. It is really stupid and boring. There are also people and networks that make money on the prejudices and propagate them for fun and profit.

I have to say everytime i hear someone say we have a black president it just pisses me off 1st who cares what he is and second he is only half black.

I think referring to him as the "black" president (even though technically he's half-black half-white) might even out any lingering racial tensions between black and white Americans. Black peoples have been stereotypically seen as street gangsters, drug-dealers and low-class people in general. So, having a black president might ease the racial stereotypes.

Using the term is not racist. The fact that it needs to be noted shows that society, itself, is racist. OR: It is indicative of racism, but on the part of wider society/institution, not of the person saying 'black president'.

No more so than calling him a male president. It's simply describing some physical characteristic. As for choosing skin color - he's the first one who isn't lily white in well over 200 years. People tend to describe things, other people included, in terms of differences or unusual characteristics. +5