First of all, Obama cannot be classified as black or white president. He is half black half white, and it cannot be said he is the first black president. Surely, in many cases it is beneficial for him to say that he is African-American to appeal to blacks for votes, for example. However, in many cases it is more beneficial to associate himself as a white person, and i am sure that if obama openly said that he is neither white or black, he would have lost a lot of popularity from the African-American community is that was one of their biggest reasons for electing him