The BIG question: Is Obama still black?

Race is an attribute that generally proves less and less noticeable as a person becomes more and more familiar to us. When we first encounter strangers, we pay attention to appearance. You can learn a lot by looking at a person. Or, so we presume. My mother used to tell my sister that the truth of a man could be gleaned from a glimpse at his shoes. An ex-girlfriend once confessed to me that my having clean, trimmed fingernails when we first met was sufficient evidence that I was good boyfriend material. 
As naturally observant and curious people, we examine and scrutinise others. We look at skin colour. We observe
behaviour. We study dress. We do these things in an effort to read strangers and make sense of who they are, where they are from, and, perhaps most importantly, how they are likely to interact with us. Just walk down any street at 3am and you will notice how closely you pay attention to the appearance of those around you. 
Interestingly, as we spend more time with people, we become so well acquainted with them that we begin to overlook those visibly dramatic features that we could not help but notice during an initial encounter. Over time, and depending upon the social situations in which we locate ourselves, we can forget a person’s race as easily as husbands (or wives) can misremember their partners’ eye colour or fail to recognise a new hairstyle. Proximity and familiarity result in an overlooking of detail and, arguably, forgetting. 

Racialising the President 
In an effort to spur anxiety and paranoia by reminding voters of his blackness, there have been attempts to link Obama with welfare, which is often thought to be government assistance to poor, black folks - even though the average welfare recipient is a lower income white person. By prompting audiences to recall the stereotype of the "black welfare mother" and linking her to Obama, the association racialises - blackens - the President. 
Allegations disputing the place of birth of Obama seek to encourage voters to think of him as "other" and not only un-American but also non-American. Historians have noted that the questioning and denial of full citizenship to black folks has a long history in the US. Finally, it is intriguing that more people think that Obama, a Christian, is Muslim now than they did four years ago. The persistence of the Obama-as-Muslim rumour similarly seeks to racialise the President (even though there’s nothing racially particular about religious belief). 
Obama himself carefully calibrates his performance of blackness. He understands that the simple act of singing a single line of an Al Green classic song encourages people to see him as soulful and cool (and, yes, black). Years ago, he carefully cultivated a pulpit-style, preacherly speaking voice in order to better connect with and be accepted by black communities. Conscious of black stereotypes, Obama rarely falls into them. He presents himself as a very present father and husband. He projects a calm than never boils into anger. Obama's blackness is palatable, when noticeable.