Guy Scott, the first white person to rule Zambia since independence from Britain in 1964, said though his skin was white, his blood was black.
He told journalists on Friday in Lusaka that "I may be white from the outside, but my blood is black.''
He said he would not give interviews for the time being because the media kept referring to him as a White president.
Scott, the 70-year-old economist and former agriculture minister who served as President Michael Sata's Deputy, became the head of state on Wednesday after Sata died in London on Tuesday.
However, he cannot seek the presidency in the elections due in 90 days' time because of his Scottish parentage.
The constitution stipulates that the president of Zambia must be a Zambian with both parents born in the country.
