we are all mixed but why is barack obama black?

disclaimer: this is not political, this is not philosophical. this is just my pure, raw, untrained thought.

at first, i meant for this post to break it down, explain why we are all mixed. after running over the obvious in my mind, that whether by science or by religion, human kind is agreeing that we all came from ONE. i realized that i didn't have anything new to say. most people know these facts or theories (you choose what they are to you) but yet they are over looked everyday. everyday someone is classified into a 'race', everyday someone dies because of a family or classification they were born into. no, this is not just america. no, this is not just africa. this is humanity as we know it. (think family, tribe, ethnic, religious association)

so if everyone is mixed, why is barack obama black? why has the world media thoughtfully announced him the first black president in america? why not the first mixed president in america or a myriad of other options available to them that would more objectively reflect the 'facts'? this was the question posed by my other half in africa as we reflected on the history that was made november 4th, 2008. the key in her question is the reflection on factual evidence. why would it be considered 'factual' that he is as much black as he is white? all these answers depend on authority, the authority that writes the rules for something to be considered a fact. who or what has the authority to say that to consider yourself black or to consider yourself white you go back only one generation? how do we know that further along the chain of ancestors there were no other races mixed into the president's heritage?

what race barack obama is depends on who's answering the question. the whole conversation and this post are just a reflection of how much people have been psychologically screwed in terms of these classifications, myself included.

because i meant to finish this post a long time ago and i've been very drained by recent race dynamics, let me get to the point. i am starting to think that race was possibly one of the worst human made inventions in history. not only has it single handedly torn people apart and created countless psycho-social problems, it gave birth to EXCUSES for treating people a certain way. now i am torn. as much as i would want for everyone to just forget this whole 'race' invention and just call themselves MIXED, i often stop myself because i recognize that the psychological effects on societies all over the world cannot be overturned so easily. my truth is that what we all truly are mixed. no matter if you look at science or history or frickin logic, our deep deep ancestors were brothers and sisters, we all came from the same place and mixed from there. so i am holding on to this fact first and foremost, calling myself MIXED from now on, and everyone can just go kick rocks!