One thing that cannot be said enough about birtherism, afterbirtherism, and all its myriad forms: it is racist at its core. An argument that Obama cannot be who he is \u2014 an intelligent, accomplished, American president \u2014 because he is an African-American.<\/p>\n
Why does the right push the meme that Obama wasn\u2019t born here? Because to admit that he was born in America is to admit that an African-American man, the son of an American woman and a Kenyan man, born in America, is as American as any other American. Why does the right claim that Bill Ayers wrote\u00a0Dreams From My Father<\/em>? Because no Black man could possibly have written such an affecting book, because\u2026well,\u00a0you know<\/em>. Why does the right still harp on Obama\u2019s use of teleprompters, which have been\u00a0de rigeur<\/em> since the Eisenhower Administration? Because\u00a0obviously<\/em> Obama isn\u2019t as smart as he so obviously is, because\u2026well, he\u2019s not white, is he?<\/p>\n This is the sick, beating heart at the center of the right\u2019s assault on Obama\u2019s legitimacy. Not their assault on Obama\u2019s policies \u2014 though the right is wrong on policy, such disagreements are why we have politics. But their assault on Obama\u2019s very right to serve in the office of president, because that is an office that, though they dare not say it out loud, the believe is reserved for white people.<\/p>\n Let us state this clearly, and let us not shy away from it: those who peddled the birther myth are racists. Those who continue to cling to it, and who cling to all its myriad facets, are racists. Those who have and who continue to insinuate that a man born in America is not a real American are racists.<\/p>\n They are racists. They are racists. They are racists. And if they don\u2019t like being called racists, they should stop being racists. They should be ashamed of their conduct, apologetic for their actions \u2014 not \u201chonored\u201d as Donald Trump claimed to be. Their actions bring shame on this country, on Americans as a people, and most certainly, on themselves.<\/p>\n