What is racism?

…the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

Seems like a lot of people are really confused about what racism is. There is nothing racist about the theory that Obama was born in Kenya. It was pretty far-fetched, but it wasn’t racist. Obama’s mother was a privileged white American woman and his father was an educated black Kenyan. Those are the facts. No one is suggesting that the fact that Obama is of mixed race is disqualifying — what they “were” suggesting was that he was a liar.

The weird thing about the entire theory is that it doesn’t matter. Obama, the child of an American, is a natural born citizen regardless of the location of his birth. For example, Ted Cruz was eligible to serve as president as he was born to an American woman living in Canada — he has a Canadian birth certificate and yet under the law he could become president. Just as Obama would be eligible if he was born in Kenya.

When Hillary’s campaign (or her ardent supporters depending on who you believe) floated the conspiracy theory it wasn’t racist — it was just one of a hundred talking points they distributed to the press to undermine Obama’s credibility. If Obama was lying about his birthplace he would still be eligible for the presidency — he would just be a liar. When Hillary’s longtime friend, supporter, and donor — Donald Trump — took up the issue what confused me was the fact that no one seemed to grasp the fact that it didn’t matter.

Did Obama lie? Is the birth certificate fake? Who the fuck cares?