Why does is say African instead of Negro on Barack Obama's birth certificate when African is where you're from it's not a race?

Answer 1

Actually, the birth certificate says "African" -- and it refers to his father, who is in fact from Africa (born and raised in Kenya). The confusion is that the president has the same name as his biological father. The "African" refers to his dad, Barack Senior. The term "African-American" was not in common use in 1961, so it would not have appeared on a birth certificate. President Obama was biracial (mother was white and from the United States, father was black and from Africa). But his birth certification does not classify him-- it classifies the races of his parents.

Answer 2

the word "African" is not referring to President Obama. The confusion is understandable, however, because the president has the same name as his father. If you look closely at the birth certificate (I enclose a link), you will see it is his father, Barack Hussein Obama Senior, who is defined as "African" on the president's birth certificate: the president's father was in fact born in Kenya, which is part of Africa, making him an African. Why the birth certificate of President Obama defines his father that way, rather than using the word "negro" is unclear-- it may be because the president's father came from a foreign country, whereas the term "negro" was more commonly used for American blacks at that time.

Answer 3

Barack Obama's birth certificate does not say "African-American".

The word "African" appears only once on Barack Obama's birth certificate, in the box labeled "race of father".

Answer 4

The word "African" appears only once on Barack Obama's birth certificate, in the box labeled "race of father".