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Abercrombie had to back off of his promise to reveal President Obama's birth certificate, primarily because Hawaii law doesn't allow officials to release personal birth records. The controversy began when Evans went on the radio claiming to have spoken with someone in Abercrombie's office and "that he's searched everywhere using his power as governor" at two separate hospitals, finding no record of Obama having been born at either one.
"There is no Barack Obama birth certificate in Hawaii. Absolutely no proof that he was born in Hawaii... now [Abercrombie] admits, publicly, that there is no birth certificate."
Interestingly enough, Evans has changed his story completely since the statement about the birth certificate made national news. He's backpedaled a bit, saying that he misspoke about the information.
"This I can you tell you is 100 percent fact," he said to Fox News. "Neil never told me there was no birth certificate. ... I never talked to him."
An article in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser also brings additional ammunition to the table of those who wish to see President Obama disqualified due to his place of birth. It says:
"Tim Adams, a former senior elections clerk for the city and county of Honolulu in 2008, has maintained that there is no long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate on file with the Hawaii Department of Health and that neither Honolulu hospital – Queens Medical Center or Kapiolani Medical Center – has any record that Obama was born there."
I don't like the Birther Movement. It's fueled by racism against America's first black president, with a concerted effort to find any infraction, loophole or legality that will get him removed from office. They are the political step-brother of the Tea Party movement, which relies on racially-inflammatory and ignorant rhetoric that uses the Constitution to somehow signify that African Americans are not "real" Americans, and therefore undeserving of the highest office in the land. These extremists are so entrenched in their racist ideology that their lynch mob behavior threatens to destroy the nation they love and to also disrespect the office of the presidency.
With that said, I can also honestly say that I have no idea where Barack Obama was born. I am not here to pretend that there is no validity to claims that he was born in Kenya because I have not seen his official birth certificate. I can also say that public officials only make themselves look that much more suspicious by marginalizing those with legitimate claims about Obama's birthplace and keeping them out of mainstream media. It appears that if it is the case that Obama was not born here in the United States, there are some who are simply hopeful that these facts won't be unearthed until 20 years after his presidency has come to an end. The marginalization of the Birthers might also be due to the "who cares?" complex that most Americans have when it comes to those looking for any reason they can find to invalidate him. President Obama is experiencing the same thing that happens to African Americans in power all across the country, and I hardly suspect that all of this would be happening if he were not black.
Regardless of where President Obama was born, we must have proper perspective on the selective outrage being shown by his political opponents. Their anger toward Obama about his birth certificate was not matched by equally zealous outrage toward former President George W. Bush for killing thousands with unjust wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The point here is that in the world of politics, there's no such thing as anyone who is squeaky clean or unconditionally dirty. The truth is that each side supports their own point of view by pointing out the political blemishes of the other team's players, while trying to convince the world that their side has a monopoly on ethical behavior. At the end of the day, the team you choose determines the angle of your ethics, and evil is in the eye of the beholder. That's why I don't expect to ever become a politician.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here. 
Comments: (59)
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By: ksdb on 1/27/2011 3:51PM
This is a nice, relatively fair article. There's certainly a constitutional issue here related to the requirement of natural born citizenship. Let's recall that Obama supported a resolution over this very same issue for his opponent John McCain, what I think was likely a quid pro quo to take attention off Obama's own nativity issues. This same issue was a problem for Mitt Romney's father, and a problem for Arnold Schwarzeneggar, who would like to run for president, and other non-native citizens.
Second, there are African Americans such as Alan Keyes and Pastor Manning who have had the same questions about Obama's legitimacy as any other Americans do. The only reason race is involved is solely because Obama is the son of a foreign national (and a nonimmigrant), who just happens to be black. Also, this fact, regardless of race makes Obama ineligible by the very definition of natural born citizen, which the Supreme Court defined as "born in the country to parents who were its citizens." The key component is that Obama was born a natural born Subject of Great Britain since his father's citizenship was determined by Great Britain. Race is irrelevant to that.
The bottom line is that regardless of the side issues, everything can be resolved through full disclosure. There's no reason the Governor of Hawaii cannot release bona fide documents ... providing they exist.
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By: madmax on 1/27/2011 4:43PM
What? I think you're as loony tunes as the birthers. President Obama never had any "nativity" issues that weren't made up, and if McLame had any, people in his own party would have taken him down. The fact is, we haven't been allowed to discuss the possibility that McGeezer is not a natural-born US citizen, because the senate signed a hastily ginned up "resolution" that says he was. Not so fast fellas....that resolution is unconstitutional, and they knew it, and it could only be decided by the Supreme Court.
Alan Keyes and Pastor Manning are not the President's of Black America. They don't speak for me, and just because they've swallowed the grape-aide doesn't make their concerns any more legitimate than that other ditz, Orly Taitz(sp).
One final point. Even if your parents were from the planet Mars, if you were born in the United States, or in any of its territories (not LEASED land like McLoser), embassies, or commercial flag carriers, you are a US citizen. Facts are stubborn things, but you're not entitled to the ones you just make up. And stop lying about what the Supreme Court said...citizenship is defined by the US Constitution, not by the Republican Party and the teabaggers or the birthers.
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By: Thomas on 1/27/2011 11:21PM
You have got to be kidding me, I can not believe you sat down an wrote that dumb Sh*t. Sounds to me like you might be a birther your self, and a believer in UFO's. You sited that idiot Alan Keys, that carpet bagging Alan Keys who came to Illinois and made a fool of himself running aginst Obama in the Illinois Senate race. I live in Illinois and I remember the laughs we had at his expense. The last comment you made, "If the evidence exist" puts you into the Alan keys camp of idiots. Did you get that talking point from Geln Beck?
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By: Why on 1/28/2011 9:55PM
Why don't you request to see the Birth
certificate of ALL prosidents black or white? Because you think it's OK if a white person is President, but you will question anyone who is not. Is that it? Isn't that a doble standard? But why am I surprised? This country is full of nothing but "Double Standards". Well guess what? If it's good for whites, it's good for anyone.
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By: Rodger on 1/28/2011 10:39PM
This is for madmax. The only person that swore they saw his birth certificate was Nancy Pelosi the speaker of the house as part of her duties. Now if someone has spent 2 million dollars to lock down their records then they must have something to hide. His academic records are included in that lockdown. Given his poor performance thus far I would doubt he acheived hi grades in college. He has never completed a job without quitting when he tires of what he is paid to do. He had no money until the Chicago thugs started funding him. So Madmax, I think you should give more thought to what you seem to have realized in your mind. This man is a fake and when it is discovered he needs to be shot in a military firing sqad and Pelosi as well since she swore on a federal document.
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By: ksdb on 1/27/2011 5:08PM
max, you're very misinformed and frankly, you sound way too emotional. Step back and look at reality. Obama has a lot of nativity problems in his back story. His own family friend who is now the governor of Hawaii cannot find legal proof of his place of birth. Newspapers prior to Obama's run for president have reported him as Kenyan-born and as born in Indonesia. Kenyans call him a "son of the soil." His OWN wife said Kenya is his home country and his own website says his citizenship at birth was governed by British law. The issuing agency will not confirm the jpg he claims is a birth certificate. These are major problems that should be able to be easily resolved through full disclosure of genuine birth records.
Second, read the Supreme Court decision for Minor v. Happersett. Justice Waite rejected Virginia Minor's claim of citizenship via the 14th amendment because she was already a natural born citizen, which he said is defined OUTSIDE of the Constitution: "At common-law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners."
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By: peachcobblerNY on 1/29/2011 1:11PM
Are you still mad/bitter/angry/disgruntled, because a "black man" is President? Get over yourselves!! smh
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By: ksdb on 1/27/2011 6:27PM
Bill, this set of comments doesn't help your argument. Like it or not, the Constitution contains a passage or two of institutionalized racism through the acceptance of slavery (no matter that it attempted to place limits on it). There is a distinction between free men and others who aren't, so by its nature it's hypocritical. The only real issue is whether Obama can legally establish that he was born in the United States, because short of that, he committed criminal fraud. Second, you look you're going overboard with the number of comments you've posted. Let's let others respond and stay focused solely on the eligibility question.
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By: Jazz in Michigan on 1/27/2011 7:30PM
We should really ignore the birthers and all the rest of the looney tunes because they just want to keep some "mess" going all the time. President Obama's birth certificate, including the official seal, has been displayed "seven ways for Sunday", but critics are still not satisfied. Truthfully, they never will be satisfied, so why keep explaining the obvious. Maybe the next election they can reelect George W. "mission accomplished" Bush.
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By: reginaldbig on 1/27/2011 7:58PM
We have an African-American president so what get over it! Look at all the previous scandals that have occurred in the "White House". People get over it blacks and whites. We haven't had a president since I've been born that has passion for people and care about our health and education. Bush mislead the votes when he was nominated into office and have all our service men and women overseas dying and our own borders aren't even safe. America is more worried about a birth certificate instead of focusing on the positive things the Obama's have presented to us as a nation to change! This man has encouraged me to persue higher eduction and I'm disabled. Thanks Obama for making it easier for a disabled minority widow to continue my education. God Bless!!
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