Hey, Ed, would people like Mayor Palmer please stop calling Barack Obama black. He is bi-racial; raised by a white mother. Bi-racial, get it? And Mr. Palmer is American-Afro, not Afro-American. I know he was born in the United States. I’m an American.

Color Conscious

You lost me on the last part. As for the first, half-black counts as black. Next ...—Ed. Note

Hey, Ed, why do they keep referring to Barack Obama as an African-American. He was born in Hawaii. Doesn’t that make him a Hawaiian?

Life’s mysteries

Um, the term African-American refers to American people of African descent. He is “a Hawaiian” in the same way that you might be “a New Jerseyan,” but he is not Hawaiian by ethnicity. Next ....—Ed. Note

Ed, Barack Obama is not African-American; he’s part Polish and German on his white mother’s side of the family tree.

Genealogist

OK, so he’s African-Polish-German American. That doesn’t make him any less qualified to relate to his African roots. Next ....—Ed. Note

Hi, Ed, I’m getting sick and tired of all the hype about Barack Obama being our first Afro-American nominee, when he is mulatto. Look it up, m-u-l-a-t-t-o. He’s our first mulatto presidential nominee.

Spelling Champion

Good grief, this is a silly discussion. No, all of his DNA isn’t African. Yes, he’s still black. New topic. ....—Ed. Note