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Has Obama ever called himself black, or African-American — at least during the campaign (maybe that’s what his conclusion was in this 1st autobiography, “Dreams”)?

My recollection is that in early 2007, Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes flat-out asked him when he decided he was black, and he dodged it — he said something like other people considered him black, because of his physical appearance.

Actually, I just found the transcript of that.

Here’s what he says: “I am rooted in the African-American community, but I’m not defined by it. I am comfortable in my racial identity and recognize that I’m part of a very specific set of experiences in this country, but that’s not the core of who I am.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/11/60minutes/main2458530_page4.shtml

Also:

“I don’t have the typical background of African-Americans. Not just because my mother was white, but because I grew up in Hawaii; I’ve spent time in Indonesia. There was all sorts of ethnicities and cultures that were swirling around my head as I was growing up.”

Also:

“KROFT: You were raised in a white household?

OBAMA: Right.

KROFT: Yet at some point, you decided that you were black?

OBAMA: Well, I’m not sure I decided it. I think if you look African-American in this society, you’re treated as an African-American. And when you’re a child in particular that is how you begin to identify yourself. At least that’s what I felt comfortable identifying myself as.”

So my question: if Obama himself hasn’t figured out, or at least if he hasn’t said, what race he is, then what the heck is a “senior advisor” of Obama doing just before the election raising the issue of his race, and saying he’s “biracial”???

I assume, as Obama’s top advisor on race issues, that in describing Obama as “biracial” he’s relying on discussions with Obama, right? So is this Obama’s way of announcing he’s finally figured out his racial identity: “biracial”?

Rereading what I just posted, I noticed that at the very end of Obama’s answer to Kroft’s question, Obama said that growing up he felt comfortable identifying himself as African-American.

Assume that he hasn’t changed his mind since then about his racial identity. Ogletree’s statement then becomes much more difficult to understand: (1) Obama’s publicly identified himself as African-American; but (2) his top advisor on race issues, a tenured professor at Harvard Law School who’s known Obama for two decades (he mentored both Obama and his wife as students) says Obama’s actually “biracial.” Does that mean Obama’s all these years has SECRETLY been presenting himself to those he’s close to as “biracial,” while PUBLICLY presenting himself as “African-American”? What gives?