Teahot

Over the last few months I have grown increasingly irritated by UK journalists endlessly repeating the American phraseology of “African American” when describing President Obama. The man was born in Hawaii, not Africa, this makes him Hawaiian . Obama himself said “I’ve got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher” and comes from a rich mixed ancestry.

Their problem seems to be that they want to describe the colour of his skin and don’t want to say he is black or (even worse?) coloured as, though technically more accurate, this might cause offence and so use this inaccurate political description that in itself could cause offence by ignoring his true ancestry.

My ancestors were Dutch, Russian, German, Goan, British and Irish but I would be described as English as I was born in England, I see no reason the same logic should not be applied to describe Obama.