The reason I have cause to disagree is this, which is anecdotal, I know. Perhaps some social-science research is warranted!

In my experience, people are not asked if they are of mixed-racial heritage, and the general social attitude (e.g. racism in this context) is that human beings of mixed-race, especially who are as dark-skinned as Barack Obama for example, are black because they are treated as black by culture.

However, applying this to ALL cases would imply:

In this regard, race is ENTIRELY socially constructed, in which case, Barack Obama is no different than any president before him and there is no cause to celebrate…

I disagree with that logic as well.

Either way, I am THRILLED with the new president. I am THRILLED that our previous president’s term is winding down.

I am THRILLED to not own any stock right now….

The, possibly most, damning aspect of racism is not in its overt manifestations, but in the morays folkways and attitudes of an entire society.

The propensity to refer to Barack Obama as black, as is the case in the entire mainstream media (and even the candidate himself, go figure), is an example of the covert nature of racism in America.

Barack Obama is, in fact, of mixed-race. There is no “but everyone, if you were to go back far enough, is of mixed race” argument to be made here. His father was quite dark-skinned and his mother was racially caucasian.

I am hyper aware of this because of my own family’s mixed-race heritage and the (quite overt) racism you would find if you looked not too far back in my family tree.

As a person of white racial heritage, I am looking to be freed of racism also!