Claiming a bi-racial or bi-cultural identity isn't the same thing as saying "Yeah, I got some Indian in my family. That's why I got this good hair." The latter is entirely about trying to be something other than black because of what you associate with blackness. The former is very much about straddling two worlds that may or may not fully accept you. It's not fair to equate them.

Claiming a bi-racial or bi-cultural identity isn't the same thing as saying "Yeah, I got some Indian in my family. That's why I got this good hair." The latter is entirely about trying to be something other than black because of what you associate with blackness. The former is very much about straddling two worlds that may or may not fully accept you. It's not fair to equate them.

In a conversation yesterday, I explained that the media keeps saying Obama is the first African-American president when they really mean the first black president—at least in the way that African-American and black are usually used. Although there's always been black people like Obama, his presidency should shed light on the fact that not everyone who's of African descent is the descendant of enslaved Africans. It's the usual confusion of race, ethnicity, culture and nationality.

In a conversation yesterday, I explained that the media keeps saying Obama is the first African-American president when they really mean the first black president—at least in the way that African-American and black are usually used. Although there's always been black people like Obama, his presidency should shed light on the fact that not everyone who's of African descent is the descendant of enslaved Africans. It's the usual confusion of race, ethnicity, culture and nationality.

That said, my point in paragraph 6 is that immigrants and bi-racial Americans have a different experience with blackness than black Americans do. Research shows that the children of black immigrants have higher educational attainment. Black immigrants on the whole also have higher incomes. Now while I think there are easy ways to rebut some of this evidence (starting with "immigrants are self-selected" and "you can't be a legal immigrant unless you are educated), I don't entirely dismiss the notion that black American culture, and — more importantly — exposure to sterotypes and archetypes of blackness — plays a role. If you grow up outside of black American culture, you are free to arrive at a black identity in a far different way.

@Corvida: As Albert points out, we usually conflate legal race, racial identity, ethnicity, national origin and culture when speaking about black people. It's necessary to separate them when discussing Obama.

For me, "black" is my cultural orientation, my racial identity, and my legal race. When I go abroad, it's quite clear quite quickly that I am an American, and a black American. But for immigrants, their cultural identity may be "Nigerian" or "Trinidadian" though their racial identity is black. Or they may be "Boricua" and legally black, but don't identify as "black" racially or culturally. See Willie Perdomo's "Nigger-Reecan Blues" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz7f-iI9VNg

So, yes, I think that a black *cultural* identity has to do with where you are raised and by whom. Families and community are how culture gets preserved and transferred.

But I think a black racial identity is also shaped by how others perceive and define you. And your legal race (in the U.S.) may be black, regardless of your cultural or racial identities.