This man is African, born in Pretoria.
“African” was not one of the valid choices used to describe a baby’s race. Babies of this category were usually called something else.... ie. Negro.
1. There is nothing on Obama's COLB about the race of a baby. Perhaps you are referring to the race of the father.
2. I'm guessing that in 1961 you did not live in Hawaii and had nothing to do with Hawaiian birth certificates, so you don't really know what the valid choices were.
3. If part of the procedure for generating birth certificates involved asking the parents (perhaps on a form to be filled out), about their race, this would explain the "African". Perhaps one of the choices on this form was "Other, fill-in-the-blank".
This man is African, born in Pretoria.