That Racist Kamala Harris Birther Conspiracy Is Nothing New

“Obama showed us his long form birth certificate, and people still think he’s not a citizen,” says Therí Pickens, who studies African American cultural theory at Bates College. People stay home.”Given the nature of politics and the internet in 2020, there would have been (and are) conspiracy theories about anyone who found their name on the presidential ticket, but it matters that it’s the ones about Harris that are resonating most strongly with true believers right now. “But people respond to the particular framings and think, ‘That’s exactly what Black women are like.’”Several of the Kamala Harris conspiracy theories (like her supposed secret vendettas against Biden and lab coats and guns) trade on the stereotype that Black women are aggressive and anti-white. “You have people reaching for whiteness as a way of reaching for citizenship.” The ease with which Harris’ critics have embraced the idea that she might not be a citizen suggests that American thinking on race and citizenship may not have advanced as much as one might hope.Even if you ignore the way it weaponizes centuries of racist baggage, the ideological implications of the Harris birther conspiracy are still disturbing. Now they’re saying that [Harris], and every other child of immigrants, actually aren’t US citizens.” Fortunately internet conspiracy theorists don’t get to make decisions about US immigration policy.