the race issue

Okay, I am just wondering about something that I hope I can discuss without offending anyone.
One of the things that has really been irritating me about the last few years, brought back to the surface by the Obama campaign/win, is the issue of race.

Facts (?):
1) Vanessa Williams was the first African-American Miss America.
2) Halle Berry wast he first African-American to win the Best Actress Oscar.
3) Obama is the first African-American president.

So that's what you see on their bios, or will see, once the bios are completed.

But then here's my point.
More facts:
1) Vanessa Williams's parents (both of them) were half-white, half-black. (I couldn't find a picture, only text sources to confirm.)
2) Halle Berry's mother is as white as can be. (http://www.hallewood.com/ROBINNEWSIMAGES/wingovmom2.jpg)
3) Obama's mom is white. (http://www.barack-hussein-obama.info/obama-parents.php)

So I am just wondering two things: First, what happened to the movement to stop identifying people by one race when they are really two? Are we reverting back to the ancient Civil War days' one-drop rule. If my sister (who is white, obviously) and her husband (who is black, in case you didn't know) have a child, why can't s/he be considered of BOTH of our races. The kid would have both of our families in its veins. I mean, I know that in reality we're all mixed up mutts one way or another, so obviously I'm talking in generalities.

The second thing I'm wondering is, if you are not of obvious mixed race, if you clearly identify yourself as African-American and can trace that back at least a few generations and don't claim other ancestry, isn't it a little disheartening to hear them constantly saying things about "the first black" whatever when in reality, those people are of mixed race?

I hope I'm not being offensive. I just think that I would be ticked if, for example, someone said, "Jane Doe is the first teacher to win the presidency!" if Jane Doe got her teaching license but really only worked in politics. Or "Jane Doe is the first South Louisianian to win the Nobel Prize" when really she may have been born there but moved immediately to Maine and lived there her entire life.

Can't we just be who we are without all this crap?!?!