First, learn your terms. Italian can refer to an ethnicity or a nationality. As an Italian-American, I use it as an ethnicity. Africa is a continent. It is neither an ethnicity nor a nationality.

Think about it. I'm an American who is 100% ethnic Italian. Therefore, I am Italian-American. If I choose to classify myself racially, then I am 100% Caucasion-American. In either case, I do not classify myself by continent.

Obama's characterization of himself is racial although he expresses it as continental (African). I do not classify myself as a Europeon-American; it is more correct for him to classify himself as Black-American. However, in either case, he's left out his caucasian genetics which constitutes 50% of his entire racial genetics.

In addition, his father is from Kenya. That's a nation; it is not a continent nor an ethnicity. As I classify myself as an Italian-American, he should more correctly classify himself as a Kenyan-American. However, that still ignores his caucasion genetics.

As I pointed out in a previous post, his daugthers are more black than he is: 50% black from their mother and 25% black from their father. Thus, while Obama is only 50% black, his daughters are 75% black.