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President Barack Obama says that Americans are "a sort of a mongrel people". (Kristoffer Tripplaar)
President Barack Obama told The View co-hosts Thursday morning that African-Americans "are sort of a mongrel people".
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Watch the video of President Barack Obama's "mongrel" comments below
In what's sure to be the most widely replayed and repeatedly interpreted and misinterpreted clip from Obama's hour long exclusive interview with Barbara Walters and The View shrew crew, Walters asked the President why he doesn't refer to himself as "biracial":
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"You do not describe yourself as a black president, but that’s the way you’re described," said Walters. "Your mother was white. Why—would it be helpful or why don’t you say: I’m not a black president, I’m biracial'?".
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"Well, you know, when I was young and going through the identity crises that any teenager goes through I wrote a whole book about this," replied Obama referring to his memoir on race entitled "Dreams from My Father".
"Yes. We all read it," interjected Walters.
The Obama dropped the mongrel comment:
"Part of what I realized was that if the world saw me as African-American, then that wasn’t something that I needed to run away from. That’s something that I could go ahead and embrace. And the interesting thing about the African American experience in this country is that we are sort of a mongrel people. I mean, we’re all kind of mixed up. Now, that’s actually true for white America as well but we just know more about it. And so I’m less interested in how we label ourselves and more interested in how we treat each other. And if we’re treating each other right, then I can be African American, I can be multi-racial, I can be—you name it. What matters is, am I showing people respect. Am I caring for other people. That’s, I think, the message that we want to send."
The term "mongrel" refers to someone of mixed ancestry but is considered by many to be a derogatory term. Mongrel can also refer to a mixed breed dog or "mutt".
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