Why would mulatto be considered demeaning by just about everyone?? It was a legal definition and not a racial slur

But, correct me if I am wrong, Obama isn't African American - at least not in the same way others, say, Oprah for example, are. His father's lineage is directly from Africa, specifically Kenya.

Not that it matters as far as whether or not he'd be a good president. But if other black voters are supporting him on the basis of "he's one of us" then that info would be a little misleading, hm? In my experience (my daughter had a good friend a few years ago who was born in Africa...a black girl, yes) they are not of the same culture as the African Americans who were descended from slaves. I hope this doesn't sound racist, I don't mean it that way at all.

BTW I have a good friend who is also African American; he was born there and just got his citizenship this year. He's whiter than I am. :D Or isn't he African American, if he was born in SA, and isn't black? Just goes to show, labels can be misleading.

From the spanish word mulo, or mule.

As above. It meant that just because your parents could breed, it didn't mean they should. They ended up with you - neither nowt not summat.

It's the same as half-caste in that people used with no intention of offense until it was challenged. And then when you think about it, it is demeaning.

Obama's black?

Who knew?

Good point. Very few Blacks in the US are truely "African American", but that is the politically correct term to use now days for anyone who is of dark color living in the US. The term is HIGHLY misleading. I think they should stop using it. Why don't they just call themselves American. It strikes of a need to maintain difference for other reasons.

It's the favoured term right now. I'm sure it will slip out of vogue as others have (Negro, coloured etc) because as you say, it's not accurate.

But at least it fits in with the way other Americans describe themselves. For example half Swedish, half Irish because that's where their ancestors came from before they arrived in America.

That's one possibility.

It's the one which needs least trimming to make it fit.
Anyway, why should there be a specific word for mixing different DNA?
There's no word for generic English mixtures, although we will smilingly admit we're mongrel because of the years of invasion.

Mulatto belongs in the years of quadroon and octaroon and such like, surely?

There's something I've been longing to say about Obama, and though it relates very little to the subject of this thread, I'm gonna say it anyway:

His lips are purple, and his ears are way big.

There. I feel better now.

Also, associations would be under tighter scrutiny if he was any kind of white.

I guess I'm black. At least, I've had some black in me. And I've been in a few too. ;-)

In street use, especially in the black community, African American means a person who is a descendant of a slave in the United States. This differs from every other [ethnicity] American. Confusing a Somali immigrant with African American is fighting words in some parts, so its usually best not to mesh the two.

Nope, African culture is much different than African American culture. African American culture is very Western, African culture is not.

People with black skin can be from South America, Africa, Arabian Peninsula, India, Indonesia, and native Australia. The political term black means African. Misleading? Yes, but that is how the terms are.

I agree completely but I find it interesting that the only group that calls themselves "American" are people of European descendant. Natives are "Natives, Native American, or American Indian". Slaves of African decedent are "African American or black" and African immigrants are "Somalis, African, Nigerians, Blacks, etc". East Asian, Indians, Arabs, Mexicans, Latinos, etc are "[insert ethnicity] Americans or [insert ethnicity]".

I am heavily involved in the rugby community. I have many friends from SA, all who live and work in the US as permanent immigrants. They are all white and more African American than any blacks I know in the US.

Here in California that is supposed to happen in about 2050