Obama's black African father was from Kenya. His white American mother was from Kansas. Obama was born in Hawaii. His heritage is truly African and American. He considers himself to be African-American. Although we could argue that he truly is multiracial, we won't; we don't. It's not how we see him or how anyone else sees him that matters, it's how he sees himself that matters.

I had a physician who would always ask me about Project RACE. He was white and from South Africa. He was also an American citizen. He had his own problem with forms in this country. He was truly African-American, but it would be misleading for him to check that box. In the United States, the term African-American is synonymous with black.

What shocked me was when I heard Obama on CBS's 60 Minutes saying that he considers himself to be black because that is what people see when they look at him. That this man would allow other people to define him is...well, it's just not what I expected. Most people know someone who is "black," but looks "white" and someone who is "white," but looks "black." I am most impressed by those who don't allow other people to define them. That is what I would expect from a presidential candidate. It's taking leadership of your personal identity.

Barack Obama said something on the TV show about how if he's driving down the street and people see him, they see a black man. It reminded me of something that happened with my son. When he turned 16 and was about to get his driver's license, his father and I had the talk with him about other's (including police officers) seeing him as black and how he should respond. We tried to prepare him for what other people might think, but not that it should or shouldn't affect how he identifies himself. The term "driving while black" had come into usage recently and we explained that he could be seen as "driving while black." He thought about that and replied, "I understand everything you're saying, but I prefer to think of it as 'driving while multiracial.'" Now that's someone who owns his own identity.

[Read Part 1 - Read Part 2]