Outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama has
disclosed that he ‘absolutely’ suffered racism
in office, adding Americans’ ‘primary concern
about me has been that I seem foreign’.

"The concept of race in America is
not just genetic, otherwise the one-
drop rule wouldn’t have made
sense”.
“It’s cultural. It’s this notion of a
people who look different than the
mainstream, suffering terrible
oppression.
“But somehow being able to make
out of that a music and a
language and a faith and a
patriotism,” Obama said, in a
special looking back on his legacy
with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.

“I think there’s a reason why
attitudes about my presidency
among whites in Northern states
are very different from whites in
Southern states.
“Are there folks whose primary
concern about me has been that I
seem foreign, the other? Are those
who champion the ‘birther’
movement feeding off of bias?
Absolutely.”

Obama said the colour of his skin had
‘absolutely’ contributed to white Americans’
negative perceptions of his time in office.
The president said: “I think there’s a reason
why attitudes about my presidency among
whites in Northern states are very different
from whites in Southern states” .