Is Obama Black or Biracial?

Historic candidacy raises questions about race
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 10, 2008 2:25 AM CDT
Is Obama Black or Biracial?
This photo released by Obama for America shows Barack Obama, 10, and his father, also named Barack Obama. Obama Sr. left the family to study at Harvard when Barack was just 2, returning only once.    (AP Photo/Obama for America)

Barack Obama is being widely hailed as the first black candidate to clinch a presidential nomination, but that's not entirely accurate, Jason Carroll writes for CNN. Obama, son of a black father and white mother, is actually biracial. He self-identifies as black, and some argue that by labeling him as such, "we are all ignoring a vital and legitimate side of his life," says Carroll.

"This is a debate that will continue as we watch the presidential race. It seems with an issue like this there's no right or wrong answer," Carroll writes, quoting a cultural commentator who noted that "it's a step in the right direction that we are even having this discussion." (More Barack Obama stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X