Published: July 29, 2010

President Obama: Racial Labels Don't Matter

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President Obama isn't concerned if people see him as Black or Multi-Racial, he explained on ABC's "The View" today.

Barbara Walters wanted to know why he didn't see himself as Bi-Racial.

Mr. Obama told of after going through an identity crisis as a teen, it dawned "if the world saw me as African American, then that was something I needn't run away from, that's something that I could go ahead and embrace."

"I'm less interested in how we label ourselves, I'm 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," he explained.

The Shirley Sherrod incident was mentioned.

"There are still inequalities out there. There's still discrimination out there," he said. "But we've made progress."

There was concern, hopelessness, in the country after his election. His administration took steps in response to the economic decline, such as bailing out the auto industry, became controversial, he admitted.

"We live at a time when a lot of people are thinking about the next election instead of the next generation," he went on.

President Obama had criticism for being on the show.

Marcella Glenn is a freelance writer, blogger, novelist, and former business editor. She looks forward to hearing from you. Scribble a note to her through NewsBlaze, or her blog at critiqueandwrite.blogspot.com