The Connection Between Barack Obama and Peggy Loving Fortune

I find it quite ironic—and perhaps a bit amusing—that after all of the debate surrounding multiracial identity and the United States Census, the most famous son of an interracial couple and the daughter of the most famous interracial couple, checked only one racial identity on their census form.  It would appear that the heralding of an era of multiraciality via Loving v. Virginia and an era of post-raciality via the election of President Obama leaves much to ponder.  The truth is that our rose-colored view of a landmark court case and a landmark election tends to obscure the fact that America has been multiracial since its inception.

Steven F. Riley. Commenting (02/13/2012) on the singular racial census choice of President Barack Obama and Peggy Loving Fortune (daughter of Richard Mildred Loving) in Carol Morello’s article “Virginia’s Caroline County, ‘Symbolic of Main Street USA’,” The Washington Post, February 10, 2012. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginias-caroline-county-symbolic-of-main-street-usa/2012/01/26/gIQAKH0z2Q_story.html.

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