ANN ARBOR—While the presidential campaigns of Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama have focused on the candidates’ differing views of foreign affairs, and most recently, on the economic crisis, pundits continue to ponder the extent race plays as voters make their decisions.

What, if anything, would the election of the first African American president indicate about the state of race relations in America? And, is an African American president more likely to address racial issues?

For University of Michigan professor Ed West, a candidate’s outlook on racial issues can be a source of common understanding, especially when the candidate like Barack Obama has been raised in a bi-racial family. West, like Obama, is also bi-racial.

“Barack Obama’s successful candidacy is an example of how the conversation about race in America can evolve into something that’s less reactionary, and more about understanding how cultural differences shape our views of race,” he said.

During the past five years, West, a professor of art, has traveled to South Africa and Hawaii where he has photographed “people of color.” He plans to travel to Latin America to complete the last installment of his three-part project, “So Called.” The name comes from a reference of people of so-called color living in post-apartheid South Africa.

Raised by a white German mother and an African American father who met during World War II, West has a lifetime of experiences in seeing the subtle?and not-so subtle?references to race in America.

“America is self-conscious about its history of race relations,” he said. “The discussion tends to be simply about black and white. But as you move beyond the U.S. borders, the discussion about race changes. It’s more about economic or cultural differences.”

West’s perspective of race was shaped by his bi-racial parents, and growing up in Astoria, N.Y., public housing. He lived with his parents and two siblings in a multi-ethnic community that he describes as pluralistic as the broader American society.

Growing up in the segregated 1950s and volatile 1960s brought West face-to-face with the ugly realities of racism in America, where, in some states, bi-racial marriages were illegal.

He confronted the viciousness of bigotry when he was “pointed at” and ridiculed when traveling with his family outside of New York, when he was beat up for swimming at a public pool where many whites swam, and threatened when driving through the South with his wife, Kate, who is white.

“This much I’ve learned: The world teaches you about race,” said West. “It’s my hope that through my work, I can contribute to the discussion of race in this country. Multi-ethnic people have different political, social and cultural points of view. From all these points of view come together in the American point of view.”