Are Birthers Racist? Yes.

Today I saw an article on CNN's website asking its readers if "Birthers" are racist, I thought this was the case the first time I had heard President (then Senator) Obama's citizenship called into question and it appears that the mainstream media has finally decided to stop shying away from this fact.  This CNN question was in the wake of the new law passed by Arizona that would require presidential candidates to submit affidavits declaring their citizenship and sworn statements as to their residency for the past 14 years along with providing a copy of their birth certificate prior to having their name placed on the ballot.  This measure passed the Arizona House by a vote of 40-16 and is awaiting Governor Jan Brewer's signature.

First let's get a better understanding of how Hawaiian law works in regards to birth certificates and how this relates to the question of President Obama's citizenship.  Hawaii won't just release personal records, nor do many other states.  I went to Hawaii's Department of Health website to see exactly what has to be done to obtain a copy of one's birth certificate, right on the front page is a link titled "Frequently Asked Questions About the Vital Records of President Barack Hussein Obama II."  Wow, this whole birther idiocy is so prevalent that they actually had to put a link about this issue on the state's website!  According to the website under HRS 338-18 the DOH is "prohibited from disclosing any vital statistics records or information contained in such records unless the requestor has a direct and tangible interest in the record."  One of the exceptions to this rule is what they refer to as "index data" which includes name, sex, and type of event and the state has released this information about the President.  The list of what constitutes a direct and tangible interest mentioned above can be found here. 

According to Dr. Chiyome Fukino who is the former Director of the Hawaii State Department of Health the "Certificate of Live Birth" that the Obama administration (along with others)  requested, received, and published is the "birth certificate" that anybody born in Hawaii would receive if they requested a copy of their birth certificate.  According to Dr. Fukino it is against state law to release the "long form" certificate that is on file at the DOH, this is the form that the birthers want to see.  This form contains information on the parents as well as the delivering physician's signature.  Dr. Fukino has attested to the fact that President Obama's birth certificate is on file and valid.  Even if President Obama went to the Hawaiian DOH in person and asked for a copy of his long form certificate, or signed a release for it to be published the state would not be able to do so.  The best he would be able to do is veiw the certificate in the book it's contained in, that's it.  Otherwise he just gets a certificate of live birth.

As stated earlier Mr. Obama's certificate of live birth has been published, numerous times from various parties actually.  You can view a copy of it here.  Oh and his birth announcement was published in two Hawaiian newspapers, go figure.  Even with all of these FACTS and the visual evidence of the certificate of live birth the birthers still don't believe it.  Why?  Because they are racists.

The reason birthers refuse to believe these facts is because they are upset that there is a black family occupying the White House.  Even though this year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War and even this far removed from the passage of civil rights laws there are those that are so ignorant and filled with hate they will not ever get over the color of someone's skin.  And the fact that there is a black man with a funny name who holds our nation's highest office just eats away at them.  That's why we've never had an issue of a president's citizenship come into question before, because they fit the birther's version of what an American looks like.  One 2008 presidential candidate WAS born outside of the United States though, John McCain.  Senator McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone, but I don't recall the birhers questioning his citizenship? 

Does passage of this new Arizona law make the lawmakers that voted for it racists as well?  Yes, remember these are the same folks that passed a law subjecting anybody who was not white to demonstrate their citizenship on-the-spot for nothing other than not looking American.