The Washington Post’s Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Gene Robinson has a great piece about the paranoia of the “birther” movement — those, including members of Congress, who claim that President Obama was not born in the US, is an alien, not an American citizen, a “Manchurian candidate” after all, and so forth. �http://tinyurl.com/ktstgj

A recent poll shows that the overwhelming majority of those who believe in this conspiracy are Southern Republicans. �I think it’s pretty clear what’s behind this movement, and why some members of Congress go along with it; or refuse to repudiate it. �It’s the simple fact that we’ve elected an African-American President of the United States. �As Chris Matthews has pointed out on “Hardball,” �this alleged “controversy” is not about documentation; it’s about pigmentation.

That’s a polite way of saying “racism.” �I think the “birther” believers are really saying to themselves (and to each other) “Oh my God, there’s a black man in the White House!” �So they’ve got to de-legitimize him.�I hope that more public figures expose this for what it is, and not skirt the issue. �Or give credence to it, as Lou Dobbs has been doing on CNN. The larger issue, though, is that our country is undergoing massive transition and evolution in many areas. �We are moving away from a dominant white male culture. �It’s estimated that in about 40 years white people will be in the minority. �Already, five states have non-white majorities.

This is our future — we’re headed towards a multi-racial, multi-ethnic America. �While the fears of those who view this as threatening can be understood, the expression of those fears through hatred, conspiracy theories and potential violence should not be tolerated.