Morgan Freeman says Barack Obama is not first black president, has been treated unfairly

President Barack Obama is considered by some to be the nation's first black president - but Morgan Freeman isn't one such individual.

The actor told NPR's "Tell Me More" host Michel Martin in an interview posted Thursday that "the first thing" that he thinks of when he thinks about Obama is "all of the people who are setting up this barrier for him," Morgan said.

"They just conveniently forget that Barack had a mama, and she was white - very white American, Kansas, middle America," the Oscar winner continued. "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."

Race aside, however, Freeman also mentioned that he believes the president has been treated unfairly by members of the opposing party.

"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 only has one term,'" Freeman said. "That means they will not cooperate with him on anything. So to say he's ineffective is a misappropriation of the facts."