The Real Reason the Birthers Don't Like Obama

There is an unspoken subtext to all this Obama-bashing that has been heard at the health care town halls and in the Birther movement. And I'm not talking about the racism which others have already identified. I'm talking about anti-Hawaiianism. As a native New Yorker married to a woman from Hawaii, I have first-hand familiarity with the fact that most of my fellow American mainlanders maintain a nagging impression that Hawaii is not really very American-y. If Obama had been born in, say, St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, the Birthers would never have been allowed to say boo. This is where the Birther movement found fertile soil: Obama's being born in a third-world-sounding hospital called Kapi'olani Medical Center exploited America's embedded insecurity about the 50th state. Here are ten facts about Hawaii that the Birthers and the town hall crazies have exploited to create their case:

1) Walking through Honolulu International Airport, one repeatedly hears people refer to the flight to the mainland as "going to America."
2) The McDonalds there serve rice and spam.
3) There are those native Hawaiians who still claim that their land was illegally annexed, and therefore Hawaii is an illegitimate state.
4) The street names have way too many vowels; just try saying, "Kalanianaole Highway."
5) The health care system covers more than 95% of its residents. Does that sound like America?
6) You can watch NFL football games -- live -- at 8am on Sunday mornings.
7) It's the only state that grows coffee. (Suspiciously, Kenya is also a major exporter of coffee.)
8) Hawaii's population is 55% Asian. Does that sound like America?
9) Obama himself once mistakenly said that there were 57 states, so even he is a little insecure about this whole notion of there being 50 states.
10) At least Alaska has Sarah Palin and oil; now, that's America.

Tom Roston is a journalist who writes the blog, Doc Soup, on PBS's POV documentary website. His work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Elle, Spin, The Hollywood Reporter, New York, and other publications. He lives in Brooklyn. You can email him at [e-mail].

Comments

[nosf41]

If Obama was a natural-born citizen it would have been very easy for him to produce the long form birth certificate, similar to the one published by the Honolulu Advertizer for Nordyke twins who were born on August 5, 1961 in Kapiolani Hospital in Honolulu
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090728/NEWS01/907280345/Hawaii+officials+confirm+Obama%E2%80%99s+original+birth+certificate+still+exists
The caption below one of the photos says: “Eleanor Nordyke of Manoa shows the birth certificates of her twin daughters. They were born at Kapiolani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital the day after Obama was born”
At the botom of the page are shown both birth certificates from Nordyke twins
Obama's team clearly thought that birth issue was important, unfortunately the document they posted on various web sites (Certification of Live Birth) does not prove the place of birth (no hospital or attending physician is listed).
What is there to hide - it should be a trivial requirement to fulfill?

[LMPE]

The US did illegally annex Hawaii: we made Liliuokalani sign over the islands at bayonet-point. Furthermore...wait, Hawaii's healthcare system covers 95% of its citizens?! That does it, first chance that I get, I am moving to the Aloha State!

I'm now waiting for Sarah Palin to call me anti-American.

[Poldolino]

heinz never did have 57 varieties, anyway.

[ResidentPlazaPunchbowl]

Mr Tom Roston,

You are absolutely on target. About a month ago I expressed similar sentiments to an elderly caucasian lady kamaaina friend, but my subtext was not as extensive as yours. Re your para 8: (55% asians, does that sound like America? remark), I felt the fact that Janice Okubo and Dr Chiyome Fukino's names were front and center, also had an effect on those crazy birthers. I did send an E-mail to Mr Klein, CNN president protesting Lou Dobbs involvement with the birthers. I told Klein, that Dobb's statements concerning the validity of the birth certificate was an insult to all of Hawaii's people, our Republican Governor,and her Director of Health Dept. Here's a true story. In 1981, when I was being processed by civilian personnel at Andrews Air Base, Md, for my job transfer to Hickan Air Base,Hi,, the personnel lady, I believed was from the south, yelled out to her fellow employees," where does he need to go for his passport and medical shots"? Answer, "where have you been Mabel, Hawaii is our 50th state, he doesn't need a passport or shots." Response: "No one told me.!" Go figure.

[Ohioan730]

"Kalukimoipoiwhatever" and "Melekalikimaka" and all their Hawaiian words sound Native American to me. Sounds like the county I live in-- Cuyahoga. Muskegee, Tennessee, Mississippi, Dakota, Michigan, Illinois etc. All Native American words that mostly originate from the tribes that occupied these territories.

Americans have a lot of nerve declaring what sounds "American". Many of our states, cities and counties are named after places in England and France as well.