Anthropologists: What's wrong with Barack Obama being a Mulatto and calling him Black or African-American ?

Question

He is:

half Black

half White

what half is more important?

If White is more important, call him White

If lack is more important, call him Black,

If both halves are important , then call him Mulatto!

Because HE is a Mulatto !

Anglo-Mulatto

And, If he's african american... Bush is european-american ?

Answer 1

This issue you raise is termed hypo-descent or "one drop rule."

"This definition reflects the long experience with slavery and later with Jim Crow segregation. In the South it became known as the "one-drop rule,'' meaning that a single drop of "black blood" makes a person a black. It is also known as the "one black ancestor rule," some courts have called it the "traceable amount rule," and anthropologists call it the "hypo-descent rule," meaning that racially mixed persons are assigned the status of the subordinate group"

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/...

"This is important to understand because it is how race is determined in the U.S. Because of hypodescent, race in the U.S. is fixed at birth and does not change. Also, due to the way hypodescent operates, the number of people classified as "black" or "Native American" is growing faster than the number of people classified as "white" because in order to be classified as white, both of your parents have to be "white." "

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/00...

"there is no universal system of classifying race. Rather, each culture has its own way of determining race. Some systems are very similar, like the racial classification systems used in the U.S. and Japan, while others are different, like the one used in Brazil. For example, concepts of race in the U.S. and Japan are very rigid and fixed from birth. In contrast, race in Brazil is fluid and flexible. Race in Brazil is determined in part by an individual's parents, in part by an individual's phenotype, and in part by an individual's socioeconomic status. As result, a person's race in Brazil can change as they become wealthier or poorer."

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/00...

Certainly in an ideal world, the race or gender of the Presidential candidates would not be an issue. Their positions on the issues and their personal character would be the important determiners. However, this isn't an ideal world.

Answer 2

great answers from icabodwa and too_simple, learnt heaps from you two.

I'm from South America, and honestly I've never heard anyone consider the term Mulatto as being to referred to as a mule, whatever the origin it is not felt this way, and as someone else here mentioned calling people by their physical features is common, so you could easily be known in your circle as "el chino" (slanty eyes), "el *****" (the black one), "la gorda" (the fatty), "la nena" (the baby, usually refers to the youngest child), "el pelon" (the baldy), "la catira" (blondy), "mi vieja" (my old lady, which is your mum) and so forth. It is kind of cheeky but not offencive.

On the other hand my question about Obama is that I never thought of him as African-American, because is dad is first generation African (Kenya I think). Anyways from all the explanations on race and so forth here, I conclude that he should identify with whatever he feels identified.

Answer 3

First,the question is irrelevant. He is a human being regardless of his color or heritage--like the rest of us.

Treat him as such and not like a laboratory specimen to be dissected.

Answer 4

Go Icabodwa!

I'm English, when someone told me Obama was black I had to take a good look at his photo, because it's not immediately apparent.

This is all to do with weird American racial descriptions. He's mixed race. It's some cultural hang up Americans have, that always makes the black the dominant colour as if it's the most important thing there is. I've seen a kid in England with one jet black African parent and one white one, and her skin was a lighter shade than mine, but you'd call her black. You'd call my cousins black, when they really don't look African at all.

As an average, 25% (ish) of the DNA in black Americans is of Non African origin, 20% is European. When does someone stop being black and start being white. I mean, what's the cut off point? Oi.

Answer 5

You have just said that your future President is a mule The terms for "races" are nothing more than a social constructs,derived from the Socail darwinist era, that proposed names/titles for anyone who wasnt white. His race is termed as mixed race African American.

Answer 6

Dude a mulatto is spanish for mule, it's offensive.  Like calling someone a half breed.

Answer 7

Mulatto is kinda a racial epithet.  I just call him mix and our next president =)

Answer 8

Dude, we don't call him anything. he decides. and if he decided to be black it should make no difference.

Answer 9

nothing is wrong, He is a mulatto.

period.

Answer 10

Mulatto, comes from the Portuguese or Spanish mulato (note spelling difference) meaning  " 'small mule', 'person of mixed race', ultimately from Latin mÅ«lus, 'mule') is a person who has both black and white ancestry. It can also be used as an adjective to describe something as a light brown color." But it doesn't necessarily mean that you are using in an offensive manner, it is describing the color not the actual animal.  The Spanish, and all other explorers "frequently" did that, naming something after a feature. How you do you think the names Colorado, Jicarilla, Cimarron came about?\

Further

"United States

'Mulatto' was an official census category until 1930. In the south of the country, mulattos inherited slave status if their mother was a slave, although in Spanish and French-influenced areas of the South prior to the Civil War (particularly New Orleans, Louisiana), a number of mulattos were also free and slave-owning. Although it is commonly used to describe individuals of mixed European and African descent, it originally referred to any hybrid species. In fact, in the United States, 'mulatto' was also used as a term for those of mixed white and Native American ancestry during the early census years. Mulatto was also used interchangeably with terms like 'turk' leading to further ambiguity when referring to many North Africans and Middle Easterners."

Just like the terms Mestizo and Genizaro and others, they are no longer used, but were common and acceptable in the past.  Technically Bush could be a European-American, as could many other people.  Apparently, with people not knowing history, we are quick to jump on the "it's not PC bandwagon" and be done with it.  Also just like many other societal groups, it was a name that was put on them by someone else, and not the name that the people necessarily called their own people--ie Pueblos, Navajo, etc.

Answer 11

I have heard the American expression "Red Neck".  Is that how you see yourself?  Or are you human like everyone else?  Apparently, you can't be both.....

Answer 12

Actually I really don't care  which racial group Obama identifies with, however since he is public figure and this is United States where the one drop rule is still in effect, althought not correct.

If Obama claimed only to be white, he would have a problem with voters black, white etc.  He identifies himself as a black man/ arrican-american etc.  I have never heard him denigrate his biracial orgins.

The only real important thing is if he is capable to run the country better than the other guy.

Answer 13

Barack actually can trace his root back to Ireland,so he has a little Irish in him

Answer 14

We should call him whatever he most identifies as.  Race is more a social construct than an actual, physical property, anyway.  There are differences on average, sure.  But a mixed race person who looks black is going to have a very different experience in America than one who looks white.  It's not because their genes are particularly different; it's more  a difference in our perception of them.  So if the more white looking person was raised by their white parent in a white suburb and in general "feels" more white, then there's no reason for them not to identify as white.  If they are more interested in their black heritage and that side of their family, why shouldn't they be black?  It's not like there's racial police who will come after you if you fill in the wrong circle on the census form.  h**l, Obama can decide he's East Asian for all the government cares.  It's just the rest of us who have the problem.

Answer 15

First off, our terms for "races" are nothing more than a social construct.  If he chooses to identify more with his African American heritage than more power to him. For those who say it is to earn more votes, I disagree. Over the entire history of this great nation, racism has always had an intense influence in politics. Identifying himself as "black" shows that he is strong enough to stand up for his heritage and be "different" than what is expected of a political leader in the US.  Black, white, brown, yellow or purple, the key is to pay attention to the candidate's platform and not the color of their skin.  I support your boldness in asking this question, but I wish that America would focus on the issues and not the physical qualities of candidates.  

Thanks!

Answer 16

It gets more votes that way

Answer 17

Tiger Woods for President!

Answer 18

First off black and white do not exist in anthropology so I don't know why you've brought this here, and second he culturally identifies as black, therefore he refers to himself as black and is therefore black, he has never referred to himself as Mulatto.

It seems whenever there is a person of intellect and related to any outstanding achievement or whatnot, it is o.k to call them white even if they aren't half and half, but if a bi racial was to F-up it is fine to call them black. What bogus double standards Americans have.

He has already said what he is, BLACK and AFRICAN AMERICAN.

Bush is in fact European American, but whites have never made any amendments to the census to categorize themselves as anything but plain old American.

Mulatto is a racist term that meas "MULE" it is derogatory. Understand that.

By the way Anglo does not mean white, Anglo is derived from Anglo saxon and it is a term reserved for the English, so if he is in fact part Irish he is NOT Anglo, this is the stem of tension between groups like the Irish and Italians and the British immigrated Americans during the early years.

Answer 19

I think the States is the only place that categorizes people this way...Irish American, African American etc.  You don`t hear people in the u.k. refered to as African British.  Doesn`t this just continue to divide people?  Surely he is just American?

Answer 20

where I'm from he's a mulatto and that' not offensive at all