A majority of people in the United States perceive President Obama as being “mixed race,” a new poll suggests.
In a study of America’s evolving demographics, the Pew Research Center found 52 percent of people view Obama as being “mixed race.” Less than a third view him as “black.”
More than half of white people view Obama as “mixed race,” but more than half of black people view the president as “black.”
The survey also found nearly two-thirds of Hispanic people view Obama as “mixed race.”
When Obama was elected in 2008, he was largely hailed as the nation’s “first black president.” He is technically biracial, however, having a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya.
The Washington Post wrote about the poll on Monday, and drew criticism on Twitter for its initial headline: “Is Barack Obama black?”
After the blowback, the headline was changed to “Is Barack Obama ‘black’? A majority of Americans say no.”
Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) knocked the survey on Twitter, suggesting one should be done on Obama’s gender.
“
Walsh then clarified in a follow-up tweet that he meant Pew, not the Post.