>To say he is an african
>american president, and
>canceling out his mother
>side of the family, is a
>disgrace, since they were
>the ones who raised him.
>since everybody is so
>christian, then you need to
>stop lying and tell the
>truth and give his mother,
>and his grandmother(toot)
>and grandfather(gramps) some
>respect.
In the United States of America, we know that "African-American" means anyone who has visible African ancestry or who claims it whether or not it is visible, and regardless of what other ethnic ancestry a person may have.

This "title" was chosen/accepted by the formerly Colored/Negro/Black people in America to reflect what we wanted to be be called.

Until recent years, the "One-Drop" rule prevailed and there were no multi-racial people in the USA. When we were "Colored," it never mattered to the rest of society what our other "ethnic" ancestry was. We were just Colored.

Then we became "Negro." When we were Negroes, our other ethnicities never mattered. We were just Negro.

Then we became "Black" and it never mattered about our other ethnicities.

For a time some were acknowledged to be mixed by being designated as "Mulatto," but generally speaking that was on the census. In everyday life, they were Colored, Negro or Black, regardless of what they looked like. Then the census stopped using that term.

So, now we are African American to at least claim "some" of our ethnic heritage. It is our choice rather than something dictated by others.

President-elect Obama has _chosen_ to identify as African American. It is does nothing to deny his mother's side of the family but is accepting of the reality that when someone sees him walking/driving down the street, they do not say "Oh look, a multi-racial man!

They say "Black Man" OR "African American Man." That is reality.

toot