Introduction
Conspiracy theories have existed for a long period, and it is used to explain the causes of significant political and social events and circumstances. Such ideas are pushed by powerful people in society and have great influence. The theories are developed to accuse an individual, achievement, or a contribution. Across history, conspiracy theories have been associated with revolutions, witch hunts, prejudice, and genocide. People advocating these notions have created fear among citizens, and some have gone further to reject medicine that can be used to cure diseases. These strategies are applied to create enmity between a person and citizens when they are vying for political positions. When President Obama was campaigning for president in 2008, a conspiracy theory emerged known as birtherism, which become popular because it was pushed by elite and it can be prevented in the future through education.
Summary of Birtherism Theory
Birtherism in the United States is the latest version of a theory to look for facts about President Obama’s origin. Within the political discourse, fake news is used to gain mileage over an opponent (Ecker et al. 185). President Obama was a victim from 2004 to 2012 when false information circulated about his background and history. During the same period, there was extensive news coverage about Obama’s birthplace, religious preferences, and citizenship, which was eventually known as the “birther movement.” Investigations revealed Obama was born in Hawaii, but the rumors were spread through talk radio, websites, and emails.
The rumor was engraved in the minds of most Americans. The pollsters conducted studies to find out public attitudes about Obama’s citizenships when rumors started. After the 2008 election, a survey was piloted, and it established that about 91% of Americans read or heard the rumor that Obama is a Muslim (Jardina and Traugott 65). 55% of those interviewed believed the rumors were false, but 22% assumed that what was being said was true (Jardina and Traugott 65). 59% suggested that they have read or heard that Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States (Jardina and Traugott 65). Only 30% of the interviewed person said that they had heard refutation about the rumor (Jardina and Traugott 65). The survey conducted shows that people believed the rumors related to Obama’s birthplace.
Popularity of birtherism
Birtherism gained popularity because it was pushed by the elite, persuading many people in the United States. A person’s decision to reject or accept a rumor is influenced by pre-existing identities, beliefs, and attitudes. The current political formation is characterized by civil and public elites who are more polarized than in the past. Hence, the political rumor is likely to take an ideological and partisan cast (Huddy et al. 10). The prominent people took advantage of the country’s political climate, and this enhanced birtherism to gain popularity. In most cases, American decisions and attitudes are greatly influenced by the elite. Therefore, it is evident that birtherism gained popularity because the elites were advocating it.
Obama’s opponents used rumors concerning his birthplace to gain political mileage. Different organizations and institutions played a considerable role in changing people’s mindsets from fake news. For instance, news media realized reports about Obama’s birthplace, but some still believed he was not born in the United States (Jardina and Traugott 67). Political leaders also tried to disprove the rumors and inform people about the facts. The majority of the population believed that Obama was raised as a Muslim, and he was not eligible to serve as the president of the U.S. The survey conducted in 2017 shows about 31% of the U.S (Jardina and Traugott 65). The birthplace of Obama should not have been used by his opponents to derail his political career.
Conspiracy theories become popular because those who believe in them feel special. There is a correlation between a person’s ‘need for uniqueness’ and believing in conspiracy theories. Some citizens’ attitudes towards a particular group in the U.S played a considerable role in popularizing birtherism (Jardina and Traugott 69). For example, Obama belongs to the minority group in the country, and it determined how people conceived the rumors as true. Therefore, many people never wanted Obama to rule because of the perceived hatred they had towards the minority. Those who supported birtherism felt that they were special, and it pushed them to endorse it.
Birtherism gained popularity in the U.S. because of group attitudes, which helped people to adopt some political rumors. A group attitude is a powerful tool that can shape public opinion about a particular subject beyond political ideology (Sawyer 23). Embracing conspiracy theory leads to the formation of political attitudes (Jardina and Traugott 68). It is believed individuals are likely to preserve and adopt beliefs that are consistent with their group attitudes. When a given political party holds a particular view, the majority of its members are likely to support their standpoint. Therefore, they took advantage of people’s attitudes towards popularizing birtherism among the members.
Why Birtherism Appeals to People
Birtherism convinced people because most of the whites were not willing to have an African American president. White Americans use racial attitudes to influence public opinion, especially on issues that are explicitly racialized (Jardina and Traugott 70). Studies have shown that racial hostility is linked with whites’ negative attitudes towards Obama. Such perception convinced many people to support birtherism even though it was a lie (Breuninger). Therefore, birtherism was attractive to many white Americans because they only wanted an American to lead them. Obama had won the hearts of many people, and the only way they could reduce his popularity was through developing birtherism.
Gossips about Obama escalated in the U.S. because of racial attitudes. There are several aspects of birth rumors that can be used to explain why birtherism was pleasing to people. The first argument suggested Obama was not born in the country, and that makes him a foreigner. Many people would not wish to be led by a stranger (Jardina and Traugott 65). Those who subscribed to the birther theory seem to be interested in continuing with the anti-black animosity. The rumors also questioned the qualifications and eligibility of Obama to be the president of the United States (Serwer). Researchers had established that racial attitudes were associated with doubts about Obama’s birthplace. The rumor about Obama can be considered a partisan attack and racially changed, making it appealing to a section of the population.
How to Prevent Birtherism in Future
Averting birtherism is a challenge since no single approach can help to stop the spread of conspiracy theories. Averting the theory depends on the level of exposure: low and high. People who have a firm belief in conspiracy theory are hard to convince otherwise (Krouwel et al. 435). Therefore, to avert such in the future, education is key. Those who are not fully exposed to the conspiracy are given an early warning on its existence. Such individuals can be supported by encouraging them to be rational thinkers in which they interrogate and fact-check (Kessler 45). Similarly, the people can be alerted to the arguments behind the birtherism conspiracy theory, and they will be able to distinguish facts from false news.
The only best approach to be adopted in preventing conspiracy theory from spreading is through educating people to be on the lookout. When they have knowledge and skills, it will enable them to be suspicious about certain sources of information (Krouwel et al. 435). Nevertheless, there are still no specific strategies that can be used to react to potentially damaging and misleading information. People who believe in conspiracy theories should be provided with facts and evidence why the information they trust is wrong.
Conclusion
Birtherism was started when Obama was campaigning to become the president of the United States. Within the political field, fake news is developed with the intention to destroy the reputation of a candidate. Many Americans were concerned with the birthplace of Obama since it was being used to access if he qualified to be president. Various research organizations were involved in the matter and they conducted a study to find out public opinion about Obama’s citizenship. The rumor gained momentum due to group attitudes and different perceptions towards minorities in the U.S. Obama was being viewed as a foreigner by those peddling the rumors and this could have influenced his campaign negatively.
Works Cited
Breuninger, Kevin. “Michelle Obama: I’ll ‘Never Forgive’ Trump for ‘Putting My Family’s Safety at Risk’ By Pushing the Birther Conspiracy Theory.” CNBC, 2018. Web.
Ecker, Ullrich K. H., et al. “Reminders and Repetition of Misinformation: Helping or Hindering Its Retraction?” Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, vol. 6, no. 2, 2017, pp. 185–92.
Huddy, Leonie, et al. “Expressive Partisanship: Campaign Involvement, Political Emotion, and Partisan Identity.” American Political Science Review, vol. 109, no.1, 2015, pp. 1–17.
Jardina, Ashley, and Michael Traugott. “The Genesis of the Birther Rumor: Partisanship, Racial Attitudes, and Political Knowledge.” Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Politics, vol. 4, no. 1, 2019, pp. 60-80.
Kessler, Luba. “Birtherism and the Deployment of the Trumpian Mind-Set.” The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 37 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President, edited by Bandy X. Lee, St. Martin’s Press, 2019, pp. 261.
Krouwel, Andre, et al. “Does Extreme Political Ideology Predict Conspiracy Beliefs, Economic Evaluations and Political Trust? Evidence from Sweden.” Journal of Social and Political Psychology, vol. 5, no. 2, 2017, pp. 435–62.
Sawyer, Patrick. “Populism, Conspiracy Theories, and Political Preferences for Federal Office in the US.” Diss. National Research University Higher School of Economics, 2020.
Serwer, Adam. “Birtherism of a Nation.” The Atlantic, 2020. Web.