Second First

Barack Obama is indeed the first African-American President of these United States of America. Obama's father was an African and his mother was an American. The bifurcation of this adjective represents his paternal and maternal ancestry, not just the geographic roots of his forebearers and his national identity. As Obama is first to hold the office as an African-American, the future will give us the second first, an African-American President whose ancestors were slaves. Surely, this distinction will be made, but the difference will be difficult to discern and the second first will not have the significance of the first first.