The presidential candidacy of Barack Obama, the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya, has become a source of pride for biracial Americans.
“It’s a great story, regardless if he is a product of a biracial family,” said Yankee captain Derek Jeter, whose mom is white and dad is black.
“He is trying to bring people together, regardless of race. Being biracial has nothing to do with it. He could be green and still be qualified.”
But some mixed-race families want Obama to speak more openly about his biracial experience.
“This is a big milestone. My biracial daughter can see what she can accomplish,” said Meri Mayes.
She and her husband, Geno, both 30, and Callie, 1, live in Jersey City.
“I would like to see Obama identify more as a multiracial candidate rather than branded as a black candidate. Some people don’t know that he’s mixed,” Mayes said.
“As a white mother, I want my daughter to be able to identify as both.”
Said her husband: “I wouldn’t want my daughter to identify with only one particular race.”
Wesley Mason, a black man raised in Washington Heights, is married to Swedish native Veronica Skogberg. Their son, Elias, is 1.
“[Obama] feels his white side as much as his black side,” Mason said. “. . . But when he steps on the stage, people see him as a black man.”
In the latest census, nearly 7 million Americans indicated they were multiracial.
“I’ve never felt I’ve had to choose,” said Obama supporter Rebecca Ragoonath, 26, the daughter of a Trinidadian man and a Russian woman.
“I feel I’m just as Jewish as I am West Indian. I embrace both cultures equally.”