Birth certificate controversy exemplifies racialized politics

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"I hope this settles once and for all this ridiculous accusation that he was not born in the country and that he's somehow less American than any other president we’ve ever had," Gross said.

Gross, a civil rights and legal history scholar, said that the controversy regarding Obama's birth is an example of racialized politics in society.

"I don't think we would be seeing these accusations about President Obama if his father had come from Europe and rather than Africa," Gross said. "I think there's become quite an ugly tone to the kind of politics we've seen around this kind of conspiracy theory movement."