INTRODUCTION
Birtherism in American political discourse is not unlike debates about who is or is not a citizen in Ivory Coast or other countries where citizenship is contested. This discourse draws on deep-seated ideas about who really "belongs" and thus serves to label those who may--or may not--play the game of politics. Of course, defining the criteria of citizenship is an essential element of any political community, pre-dating formal, written constitutions.
Citizenship is always and everywhere a construct. People define and construct citizenship to meet their needs in a particular setting. They set out criteria that must be met and list the rights and responsibilities of citizens. Who are these people? It depends. It depends on wielding power (even in a democracy, for the wishes of the majority require the ability to enforce–no enforcement, mere words on paper). Citizenship may be constructed inclusively, by casting a wide net; or exclusively, by tossing some residents out of the net.
Both the US and Cote d’Ivoire have substantial immigrant and migrant communities. In America, legal immigrants may follow a well-defined road to citizenship, but the undocumented, even those brought here as minors, face deportation. The American electorate’s interest in immigration policy is often focused on access to jobs for citizens versus non-citizens. In Africa discussion often revolves around access to land–as well as jobs. In both the US and Ivory Coast the label "not a citizen" excludes those so labeled from voting and from holding political office. And in both countries the issue has impinged on those aspiring to the presidency.
Birthers in American Politics
The 2012 election cycle began in the US as soon as the polls closed on election day last November. In the field of dreams that Republicans are running in, it behooves a potential presidential candidate to stand out from the crowd. So along came real estate tycoon Donald Trump, tooting a tune he hoped would inspire a host of "birthers" to jump on his bandwagon. It’s a tune borrowed from the 2008 campaign–when anti-Obama activists claimed that Barack Obama was not born in the US–another way of saying he was not eligible to serve as president. This was the beginning of the Birther movement.
Trump’s strategy worked. A recent poll by Public Policy Polling Gallup puts him at the head of the parade of possible Republican candidates, with an especially strong showing of 37% among self-identified Birthers (1). On Wednesday, he was in New Hampshire testing the waters when President Obama announced the release of the long form of his birth certificate. Naturally, Trump kept tooting, taking all the credit for pushing the president into doing so: "I’m very proud of myself because I’ve accomplished something nobody else has been able to accomplish" (2).
What's this all about?
The US constitution states clearly that only a natural-born citizen may serve as president. Early in the 2008 campaign questions were raised about the eligibility of both candidates and certainly there was nothing improper about asking and verifying. For John McCain, born in the Panama Canal Zone, this was settled quite readily. For Obama, born in Hawaii, it became a cause cél bre among right-wing conspiracy theorists. The Obama campaign had posted his Certification of Live Birth (a copy certified by the State of Hawaii) on its web site, but the birthers questioned its authenticity. Even after meticulous investigations by reliable fact-checkers, the birthers kept repeating that it was a fraud (3). They demanded that Obama release the longer document, the one signed by his mother and the attending physician at the hospital. In Hawaii this document is retained by the Department of Health, which does not normally issue copies to anyone.
So, an issue settled for nearly everyone BEFORE election day in 2008 did not go away. But it did recede into the background--until Trump decided to revive it. Trump was planning to send his own sleuths to Hawaii since he preferred to ignore what sleuthing parties had discovered there in 2008. He also relied on the evidence of a telephone interview with Obama’s Kenyan grandmother (actually a co-wife of his deceased biological grandmother), an elderly woman who stated emphatically that "he was born in Hawaii, the state of Hawaii, where his father was also learning there" (4). Now he’s indicated he’ll go after Obama’s academic credentials and transcripts.
Will the release of the long form put an end to birtherism? According to a Fox News Poll conducted earlier this month, about one-quarter of all voters and one-third of Republicans believe that President Obama was not born in the US. A Washington/ABC poll obtained different results–with only 10% of respondents admitting to suspicions about Obama’s place of birth. It seems likely, however, that a cohort of die-hard birthers will remain unconvinced. (5)
Why Birtherism?
Where did this notion come from? As the Democratic primary season intensified in 2008, a faction of Hillary Clinton’s supporters began kicking around (in e-mail exchanges) doubts about Obama’s citizenship. When these got out, they were picked up by conspiracy theorists on the right, but Jim Geraghty, a conservative blogging at the National Review, refuted them and asked Obama to release his birth certificate. After the certificate was posted in June 2008, however, it failed to satisfy those who simply rejected it as a forgery (6).
During the 2008 campaign the anti-Obama crowd, searching for a way to undermine his candidacy, left no stone unturned. They alleged that Barack Hussein Obama was not a natural-born citizen and made other false allegations, such as insisting that he was a Muslim. For a certain portion of the electorate the possibility that Obama might become president was an anathema. If they could instill the notion that he was not a "real" American, perhaps they could prevent that from happening. More reecently, a major peddler of the birther doctrine has been Jerome Corsi, whose new book, Where’s the Birth Certificate?, is coming out in May (7).
Intensity of belief in the Birther doctrine varies–and so do the types of people who are drawn to it. That said, Trump was astute enough to see that Birtherism would attract Tea Partiers and hard-right Republicans–the kind of voters who turn out disproportionately during the caucus and primary season in certain key states (e.g. Iowa). Trump, speaking before Obama released the long form, claimed that "People love this issue especially in the Republican Party" (8). Moreover, several states were working on legislation requiring candidates to verify their citizenship–by providing a birth certificate or acceptable substitute document (9).
As President Obama pointed out on Wednesday, the "silliness" of Birtherism is a diversion, channeling attention away from America’s real problems. For a couple of weeks the Republican establishment has been making a similar argument–that birtherism draws interest away from core issues, like the budget and deficit. Mitt Romney, who believing that Obama had passed the citizenship test, clearly wanted to focus on the economy (10). However, for far-right ideologues getting angry voters riled up over an allegedly fraudulent birth certificate is a safe tactic, a welcome diversion. They don’t want the unemployed, for example, to think too much about why the economic recovery is so slow or why there are corporations that do not pay any taxes.
What the Birthers did was to create a proxy, a stand-in for the fears that some Americans have about people different from themselves. Obama, the son of a white woman and a African man (who was not a citizen, not even an immigrant), was an exotic individual. His full name was very strange and so his detractors repeated it constantly; his middle name was recognizably Muslim though he claimed to be a Christian. Opportunistically, Trump pandered to these xenophobic and racist undercurrents. Though Trump presents himself as a tolerant fellow, he has referred to African Americans as "the blacks"–as if they are a homogenous group (11).
It’s sad but true, the playing field of American politics is full of operatives without any code of ethics whatsoever. There are plenty of ideologues, ready and willing to make patently false claims--if doing so serves their interests. These operatives attract the "fact-free" crowd. (Ironically, so-called conservatives will blather on about the moral decrepitude of post-modernism, yet feel no obligation whatsoever to consider "facts" when the facts refute their argument.) This FACT-FREE-ism means that no one will ever convince the true-blue "Obama-haters" that Obama is indeed a natural-born American. For them Corsi’s word is inerrant, infallible, as good-as-scripture. And they are open to the wildest of conspiracy theories when trying to explain away whatever doesn’t fit their entrenched views. A few might go as far as asserting that Obama’s grandparents, with clairvoyant foresight, must have planted his birth announcement in a Honolulu newspaper in 1961 so that when he ran for president he could say that he was born there!
What lies behind Birtherism is a crude form of bigotry. Labeling a politician "not a natural-born American" is code for "not sufficiently American" or even "unAmerican". Aside from that, racists can be found in the ranks of the Birthers. If you doubt that, take a look at the Orange County (California) Republican mailing in which Obama’s face was surimposed on a chimpanzee or signs that have appeared at Tea Party rallies (12). And remember, perceptions count in politics. So, regardless of whether racism is a factor, if Latinos and African Americans view Birther allegations as racist, Trump’s trumpeting has surely alienated them. In Al Sharpton’s words: "A lot of people see it as racism. Even when you achieve what people felt was unachievable, you still have to prove you are qualified. That’s how a lot of us read it" (13).
So, how many Americans consider Trump a serious candidate? Isn’t this just another Trump publicity stunt? According to a recent poll, 60% of Republicans don’t think he’s serious about running. Last week Karl Rove, not exactly an un-ideologue himself, called him "a joke candidate". And here’s the kicker, even Michele Bachman is convinced that Obama was born in Hawaii. Nevertheless, while Trump’s critics were worrying that his birther position was turning off swing voters and giving ammunition to the Democrats, Sarah decided to toot right along with him (14).
Birthers in Ivory Coast
Since 2002 the people of Ivory Coast have experienced intermittent political conflict and violence. Now, after weeks of political tension, followed by a short civil war, President Alassane Outtara must gain control over the six militias that, on his behalf, ousted former President Laurent Gbagbo (on April 11, 2011). Almost immediately an old feud between two politically ambitious warlords--Ibrahim Coulibaly and Guillaume Soro–re-emerged as a flashpoint. Although President Ouattara had ordered the militias back to their barracks, he had also decided that Soro’s troops would form the core of a new national army.
Coulibaly died in Abidjan on Wednesday night. Ouattara had been expecting him to come to his headquarters--to pledge his loyalty–but Coulibaly told reporters that Soro’s forces were preventing him moving safely within Abidjan. Now Soro is claiming that his rival committed suicide. The evidence, photographs of a badly beaten Coulibaly, suggests that he was beaten and then shot–an apparent assassination. On Wednesday UN peacekeepers had been sent to disarm Coulibaly, but when he refused they left. Later, Coulibaly’s stronghold was attacked by Soro’s forces. Given Coulibaly’s history of plotting coups (a successful one in 1999), it is not surprising that Soro would view him as a threat. Also, Soro may have perceived (correctly) that Ouattara was them off against each other. (15)
The situation remains extremely tense. How will Coulibaly’s passionate supporters in Abobo (a suburb of Abidjan, home to many civilian protesters against the Gbagbo regime) react to the loss of their hero? Will Ouattara cease to trust Soro? Will other feuds break out to test Ouattara’s presidency?
The news is somewhat better on the economic front. As soon as Gbagbo was gone, France and the European Union pledged $840 million in aid to restart the economy. With banks about to re-open, with sanctions lifted so that exports of cocoa may resume, the economy should start growing again in the second half of 2011, and possibly rise to a 6% growth rate by the end of 2012 (16). There are no guarantees, however. High expectations, combined with instability if Ouattara is unable to manage the militias, could put the recovery at risk.
In the background is the lingering suspicion that President Ouattara is a political interloper--despite being the internationally recognized winner of last November election. In the past Ouattara’s political rivals, in addition to pointing the many years that he spent working outside the country, have alleged that his ancestry is insufficiently Ivorian. The extent to which this old allegation might complicate Ivorian politics going forward is uncertain. If people become disillusioned with Ouattara–especially if the economic recovery stalls–the ideology of Ivoirite might rear its ugly head once again. Dissidents or opportunists seeking to discredit Ouattara might try to resuscitate Ivoirian "Birtherism" (just as Trump has revived its American counterpart).
The Politics of Citizenship
Alassane Ouattara says that he was born in Dimbokro, Ivory Coast on January 1, 1942 (17). But his father, as a civil servant in the French colonial administration, was assigned to a post in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), and so Ouattara’s upbringing has cast a non-Ivorian shadow. As as a young man Ouattara participated in scholarship program in which he was classified as Burkinabe rather than Ivorian. He is also said to have had a Burkinabe passport (18). Yet, none of this personal history prevented President Houphouet-Boigny from appointing him prime minister in the early 1990s.
The matter of Ouattara’s citizenship became an issue in the aftermath of the first multi-party elections in 1990, followed by the death in 1993 of the President Houphouet-Boigny (the country’s first president). As politics became more and more contentious, three nodes of party-based power emerged. What had been Houphouet-Boigny’s party split into two factions: one led by President Bedie,, the other by leaders who asked Ouattara to be their candidate in the next election. The third party was that of Laurent Gbagbo.
As Abu Bakarr Bah points out, conflict in Cote d’Ivoire since the mid-1990s has swirled around "contested citizenship claims" (19). To understand how this came about it is necessary to explore the setting in which different ideas about citizenship evolved. In Cote d’Ivoire that setting includes the French colonial period, the nationalist movement, and the thirty-three year presidency of Houphouet-Boigny–as well as the politics of the recent past.
In most African societies, despite much mingling and mixing of populations across ethnic and linguistic lines in the past, "belonging" is not simply a matter of having been born at a particular place. When it comes to feet on the ground, certain families belong to a place more than others because accorded a special status as "owners of the land." In precolonial times families of high status may have had oral traditions recalling how their ancestors had travel from one place to another, where they settled among those already living there. Yet, even where the newcomers dominated politically, they often recognized the ritual authority of those claiming descent from the land’s earliest inhabitants. Lately, a growing sense of autochthony, translated into modern settings where immigrants and refugees are a significant proportion of the population, has been receiving scholarly attention (20).
French colonialism, with its emphasis on assimilation (for a few), divided the indigenous peoples of its colonies into citizens and subjects. Since most Ivorians were subjects, nationalism may be analyzed as a movement to claim (reclaim) citizenship (21). When nationalist leaders tried to assert overarching national identities, they were often frustrated by persistent local identities. In Cote d’Ivoire, where immigrants make up about a quarter of the total population, an Ivoirian resident may be an immigrant but share an ethnic identity with non-immigrants. The result is a politicization of citizenship, which becomes "a struggle to assert local roots in political and social matters, and exclude outsiders" (22).
Bah sees a very negative legacy in Houphouet-Boigny’s "fuzzy citizenship policies," which had allowed immigrants to pass for Ivorians and thus participate in politics. This made any attempt to exclude them a source of resentment and anxiety. The situation was further complicated by migration within the country and the flow of people from rural areas to the cities. These migrants were often only loosely tied to their ancestral villages. Of course, many elderly people had no proper documents at all.
President Bedie, who desperately wanted to retain power, regardless of the cost, began promoting Ivoirite, a highly divisive doctrine. Bedie and his party claimed that only those born in the country, whose parents were also born there, were real Ivoirians. This definition of citizenship favored southerners at the expense of northerners because the latter were susceptible to being identified as migrants, due to ethnic and religious ties (northerners, like many migrants, were Muslims). It became the basis of laws passed in 1994 and its criteria of citizenship were adopted in the 2000 Constitution, which was designed intentionally to exclude Ouattara from the office of president. Stubbornly, Ouattara maintained that he was Ivorian, born in the north, to parents who were also Ivoirian.
Like the Tea Party activists in the US, the propagators of Ivoirite saw themselves as genuine patriots. But northerners greatly resented Ivoirite’s "anti-foreign" rhetoric and, with some justification, viewed it as a code for what was obviously an anti-immigrant and anti-northern agenda. Many northerners found it difficult to obtain the necessary certificates of nationality because they could not back up their claims with "a statement of origin issued by a committee from their village of origin" (Bah). For Ivorians needing to prove citizenship it was more difficult to obtaining the required documents than it was for Obama (who did, however, need a waiver from the State of Hawaii to secure the release his long form birth certificate).
Northerners grievances, political rivalries, and the aftmath of the 1999 coup ushered in a period of conflict in Cote d’Ivoire. Guillaume Soro, explaining why he became a rebel, emphasized the xenophobic character of Ivoirite (23). International efforts to bring the warring factions to the negotiating table did lead to a series of agreements but did little to resolve the central issue, determining the criteria of citizenship.
Finally, in 2007 the Ouagadougou Agreement addressed the question of how those Ivorians who did not have proper documents could obtain certificates enabling them to receive national identity cards. It set up a system of mobile courts to issue substitute birth certificates to those whose births had not been registered. An individual could go to a hearing at his or her place of birth (when the mobile court was in session there) to seek confirmation from the community. Otherwise, the Agreement recognized an existing nationality law whereby a citizen was any person with at least one Ivorian parent; a person born in Cote d’Ivoire to unknown parents could also claim citizenship. There would be no special criteria pertaining only to presidential candidates. Since Ouattara met the general criteria, he could be a candidate in the forthcoming election (though President Gbagbo delayed the election until late in 2010).
Reconciliation and Democracy in Cote d’Ivoire
It is easy for pundits to say that reconciliation should be President Ouattara’s priority. That he thinks it is important is beyond doubt (one need only listen to his speeches). But national re-integration won’t be easy given the violence of the last few weeks and festering reports of abuses by militiamen. Astutely, Ouattara has pledged to investigate any atrocities, regardless of whose side the perpetrators were fighting on (24).
Alassane Ouattara, having acceded to the presidency to which he was duly elected, must now govern as the president of all the people, yet he will have to balance the interests of northerners with those of southerners. In addition he will have to contend with long-standing ethnic and religious differences–and with the ethnic and religious similarities that connect Ivoirians with the migrants who live among them. As a Muslim and a northerner, he will have to convince skeptical Christians and southerners that he is acting in the best interests of all Ivoirians.
Legally and constitutionally, Ouattara has a ready-made foundation for nurturing democratic institutions in the Ouagadougou Agreement. Its implentation set the stage for last November’s election. Ouattara will be inaugurated on May 21st and the political process will go forward. The prospects for a democratic outcome will depend largely on the ability of the people of Cote d’Ivoire to imagine themselves as belonging to an inclusive (albeit diverse) nation-state.
RESPONSIBILITY OF TEACHERS
Social studies teachers in the US are too often intimidated into ignoring issues that, if they could only bring them up, would breathe life into lethargic classes. Devising ways of teaching how to think critically–about issues that matter, controversies that consume us–about lies that politicians may be tell us–is a risky part of the job.
One strategy is to put an issue into a much broader perspective (then narrowing that perspective as time and other factors permit). Begin by signaling that the more inclusive topic is citizenship. Affirm that deciding who is or is not a citizen is not only a legitimate task, but a necessary one in a democracy. Introduce the conflict in Ivory Coast over the last decade as an example of what can happen when citizenship criteria are unclear or discriminatory. Also acknowledge the OK-ness of "the need to verify" (after all, verification builds trust in the long run).
If you wish to continue with a deeper treatment of the Birther movement, I recommend starting with the resources available at the Politifact and FactCheck web sites. Another good place to begin is Jonathan Capehart’s Washington Post blog (go to the Blog section, click on "Post-Partisan," search "capehart trump") because his posts contain lots of links and embedded video. Talk about how investigators have examined the documents and found them authentic. Discuss the need to evaluate not only the evidence but the arguments based on it. Explain why it is prudent to consider the probability of any convoluted conspiracy theory. Point out that since no one can verify personally each and every relevant fact about every contentious issue, we all rely on experts. Therefore, it is important to vet and evaluate the people whose expertise we trust. And, in the Info Age it is very important to ascertain the reliability of sources available on the Web.
ACTIVITIES
DISCUSS: In CIVICS/GOVERNMENT class talk about why any nation’s constitution needs to state very clearly who may claim citizenship. What criteria are often used to define citizenship? How does the US constitution define it? ASK: Should citizens (in our country, in any country) be put into different categories (such as natural-born citizens, naturalized citizens, or dual citizens)?
ASK: In a democracy should any citizen be permitted to run for any political office?
RESEARCH: Why did framers of the US constitution decide to limit the presidency to only "natural-born" citizens?
READ news a article reporting on Republican politicians who have repudiated Birtherism. DISCUSS why they have taken this position. Then ASK why some Americans of voting-age do not believe that President Obama was born in the USA and is therefore a "natural-born American citizen."
WORLD HISTORY or COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT class: Discuss how colonialism and the ideology of nationalist movements shaped constitutions in place at the time of independence in Africa (or India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Surinam).
GEOGRAPHY: Locate birthplaces of Obama (Honolulu) and Ouattara (Dimbokro, Ivory Coast). Younger students: find Hawaii and Ivory Coast on classroom globe.
US RESOURCES
"Born in the U.S.A." FactCheck.org (August 21, 2008; update November 1, 2008): http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html
"Birthers Not Persuaded by Cetrificate of Live Birth." Politifact (April 29, 2011): http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2011/apr/27/birthers-obama-certificate-live-birth/
- How die-hard birthers are questioning the long form certificate
- Links to 7 previous discussions/ratings of birther claims
Serwer, Adam. Birther Lexicon: http://prospect.org/csnc/adam_serwer_archive
Wallsten, Peter and Krissah Thompson. "Top Republicans Try to Scotch Birther Theories." Washington Post (April 19, 2011):
Capehart, Jonathan. "Trump’s Disgusting, Dangerous Dance with Birthers." Post-Partisan [blog]. Washington Post (April 7, 2011):
- Link to full audio tape of interview with Sarah Obama (the president’s Kenyan "grandmother"); links to Alex Koppleman’s two Salon posts, refuting birther claims derived from this interview
- Includes image of the "Certification of Live Birth"
Capehart, Jonathan. "Going Ape Over Racist Depiction of Obama." Post-Partisan [blog]. Washington Post (April 19, 2011): http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/going-ape-over-racist-depiction-of-obama/2011/03/04/AFvrOs5D_blog.html
Remnick, David. "Trump, Birtherism, and Race-Baiting." New Yorker (April 27, 2011).
Shear, Michael D. "Obama Shows Birth Certificate, Citing Silliness," New York Times (April 27, 2011);
Vogel, Kenneth. "Wild Theories of ‘Obama Nation’ Author." Politico (August 13, 2008):
IVORY COAST RESOURCES
Facebook: Alassane Ouattara: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alassane-D-Ouattara/27643460621?v=photos#!/pages/Alassane-D-Ouattara/27643460621?sk=info
"Timeline." Euronews: http://www.euronews.net/2011/04/04/a-timeline-of-main-events-in-ivory-coast-since-the-presidential-election/
Bah, Abu Bakarr. "Democracy and Civil War: Citizenship and Peacemaking in Cote D'Ivoire." African Affairs 109/437 (2010): 597-615.
Geschiere, Peter, and Stephen Jackson. "Authochthony and the Crisis of Citizenship: Democratization, Decentralization, and the Politics of Belongong." African Studies Review 49 (2006): 1-7. Abstract (only):
Marshall-Fratani, Ruth. "The War of "Who Is Who": Authochtony, Nationalism, and Citizenship in the Ivorian Crisis." ASR 49/2 (2006): 9-43.
"Ivorian Warlord’s Death: Suicide or Assassination? AP (April 29, 2011).
NOTES
1) Public Policy Polling: reported by Jonathan Capehart, "Going Ape Over Racist Depiction of Obama," Washington Post (April 19, 2011);
PPP press release (with details/analysis): http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/PPP_Release_US_0414925.pdf
2) Jeff Zeleny, "On Trail Trump Basks in Spotlight" New York Times (April 27, 2011):
3) Obama’s birth in Honolulu was confirmed by the Department of Health, State of Hawaii, and verified by the Registrar of Vital Statistics. See Resources for "Born in the U.S.A." FactCheck.org (August 21, 2008; update November 1, 2008); "Birthers Not Persuaded by Cetrificate of Live Birth." Politifact (April 29, 2011).
4) See Jonathan Capehart, "Trump’s Disgusting, Dangerous Dance with Birthers," Washington Post (in Resources); includes links to Koppelman’s Salon posts, revealing how the tape has been misused and manipulated by the birthers.
5) For earlier polls see Capehart, "Trump’s Disgusting, Dangerous Dance" (note 4).
6) Ben Smith and Byron Tau, "Birtherism: Where It All Began," Politico (April 22, 2011); a very concise overview of how the Birther movement evolved.
7) Corsi, notorious for spouting invective and inventing conspiracy theories, was a co-author of Unfit for Command, the 2004 Swift boat attack on John Kerry. In 2008 he wrote The Obama Nation, a much disputed battering of Obama, but did not mention the birther conspiracy. See "MMFA Investigates: Who Is Jerome Corsi, Co-Author of Swift Boat Vets Attack Book?" Media Matters for America (August 6, 2004): http://mediamatters.org/research/200408060010; and Kenneth Vogel, "Wild Theories of ‘Obama Nation’ Author." Politico (August 13, 2008): http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12526.html
8) As quoted ...
9) "Birther Bill Backers: Release Overdue." Politico (April 27, 2011):
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53812.html. Gov. Bobby Jindal (Louisiana) has stated that he would sign bill addressing both age and citizenship and applying to all federal candidates. Recently, Governor Jan Brewer (Arizona) vetoed a bill requiring presidential candidates to prove eligibility by submitting a birth certificate or specified substitutes.
10) Michael D. Shear, "Obama Shows Birth Certificate, Citing Silliness," New York Times (see Resources); Peter Wallsten and Krissah Thompson, "Top Republicans Try to Scotch Birther Theories," Washington Post (see Resources). Rommney, a former governor of Massachusetts, ran in the Repubican primaries in 2008; see Politico: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53073.
11) Eugene Robinson, "Donald Trump as GOP Hopeful: Take Him Seriously." Washington Post (April 18, 2011):
12) Jonathan Capehart, "Going Ape Over Racist Depiction of Obama." Washington Post (April 19, 2011). Includes a copy of the image.
13) As quoted ...
14) Jim Rutenberg, "Poll Finds Lack of Passion for ‘12 Republican Field," New York Times (April 22, 2011). Rove ... Bachman, on ABC’s "Good Morning America" program, reported in "The Caucus," New York Times (April 20, 2011). For Palin see video clip embedded in Jonathan Capehart, "Palin Joins Trump’s Birther Madness," Post-Partisan, Washington Post (April11, 2011):
15) "Ivorian Warlord ‘Beaten, the Shot,’" UKAP (April 29, 2011); "Ivorian Warlord’s Death: Suicide or Assassination? AP (April 29, 2011). See the second of these for background about the Coulibaly/Soro rivalry. In January Coulibaly began attacking Gbago’s forces–when Ouattara was still reluctant to use force. This suggests that Coulibaly saw himself as having leverage with Ouattara (but also explains the move by Soro against him).
16) Katrina Monson, "Ivory Coast: Prospects Amid Strife," Financial Times (April 28, 2011): http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/04/28/ivory-coast-prospects-amid-strife/
Ange Aboa and Loucoumane Coulibaly, "Ivory Coast Cocoa Trade, Banking Poised to Restart," Reuters (April 26, 2011):
17) As reported on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alassane-d-Ouattara
18) Krieger/Crahan [Google], 180:
19) Abu Bakarr Bah, "Democracy and Civil War" (see Resources). An excellent academic resource that has enhanced my understanding of recent Ivoirian history and politics (and from which I have drawn material for this post).
20) See the African Studies Review 49 (2006), esp. Ruth Marshall-Fratani, "The War of "Who Is Who": Authochtony, Nationalism, and Citizenship in the Ivorian Crisis" (pp. 9-43).
21) Mahmood Mamdani, Citizen and Subject: Contemporary African and the Legacy of Colonialism (Princeton University Press, 1996).
22) Geschiere quote
23) As reported in Bah, "Democracy and Civil War," p. 604, footnote 34.
24) "Alassane Ouattarar’s Presidential Claims Overshadowed by Ivory Coast Mass Killings," Reuters. Access at http://huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/08 ...
