Morgan Freeman: We Still Await First Black President

Morgan Freeman is a big supporter of President Obama, but he doesn't buy the notion that Obama is America's first black president. In fact, Freeman tells NPR that the nation still hasn't celebrated that particular milestone:

• "First thing that always pops into my head regarding our president is that all of the people who are setting up this barrier for him ... they just conveniently forget that Barack had a mama, and she was white — very white American, Kansas, middle of America. There was no argument about who he is or what he is. America's first black president hasn't arisen yet. He's not America's first black president—he's America's first mixed-race president."

At another point, Freeman makes clear that he blames the GOP for holding Obama back. "He is being purposely, purposely thwarted by the Republican Party, who started out at the beginning of his tenure by saying, 'We are going to do whatever is necessary to make sure that he's only going to serve one term,' " he said. "That means they will not cooperate with him on anything. So to say he's ineffective is a misappropriation of the facts." NPR has audio here. (More Morgan Freeman stories.)