Obama’s racial credentials not a black and white picture
by Jordan Cooper

Barack Obama is the first president of significant African-American descent. However, how did he describe himself on admissions applications, job applications, and other documents that asked to describe his race? He won’t release his academic transcripts from secondary school, college, and law school. He identifies with the African-American race more than any other president but what did he put down when asked how he thought of himself racially/ethnically? I think historians, public intellectuals, and other interested people need to know that.

He received over 90 percent of the black vote for both of his campaigns for president. He received the benefit of the doubt about his citizenship and there are still some questions hanging around about that. He may have described himself as a Arab, Black, or White. Or perhaps a combination of the foregoing racial classifications. The answers to these questions are important because if he said he was merely black that would be an untruth and may be seen as a response to be seen as a frequently marginalized minority.

If he said that he was black and white that would be a fair truth. Since, his dad was a native Kenyan, which would be racially classified as black, and his mother was White. He remains the only president with recent African ancestry dating back to the colonial period. Still, if he claimed mixed racial classifications he could legitimately be viewed at as the first president of African-American ancestry and not the first African-American president racially based on his parents’ race.

Race shall and will not be used to measure his performance as a politician but it will be powerful in his historic legacy. If there were a black and white talent show as our Governor here in South Carolina Nikki Haley tried to enter as a kid, he would be disqualified as well. Since he couldn’t be given an unjust advantage by being placed in both categories.

Jordan Thomas Cooper is a 2015 graduate of the University of South Carolina with a degree in History and a 2010 graduate of the Real Estate School of Success in Irmo. He is the first African-American to serve in both the governor and lieutenant governor’s office as an aide and first to serve in the Inspector General’s Office in S.C. (Haley) He is also the first person to serve in the top three offices in the gubernatorial line of succession in South Carolina (Haley, Bauer, McConnell). His research indicates he happens to be the second black presidential campaignspeechwriter in American History and the first for a GOP presidential campaign (Bush 2015). He also played football for Coach Steve Spurrier.