In his June 13 letter “Obama is a mix,” J. Andrew Smith criticizes a recent Journal editorial for failing to recognize that “Barack Obama is 50 percent black, not 100 percent.”

Mr. Smith asks, “Doesn’t his white mother count?”

No, Mr. Smith, Barack Obama’s white mother doesn’t “count.” In this country, with its unfortunate history of prejudice and intolerance, if you are “50 percent black” like Senator Obama, then you are black. Sadly, when we look at someone like Barack Obama, we don’t see a person, we see a black person.

But maybe this election gives us an opportunity to help change this attitude, and toward that end I agree with your plea to the media to “please call him what he really is”: an American.

ART COREY

East Providence