Trash Talk: Anti-Obama Lore and Race in the Twenty-First Century by Patricia A. Turner is a book that folklorists, historians, political scientists, and others, may find useful for several reasons. One thing that folklorists will notice is that Turner incorporates important ideas from other folklore scholars quite often throughout the text. One will notice relevant ideas from notable scholars such as Bill Ellis, Jan Harold Brunvand, Diane Goldstein, Trevor Blank, Gary Alan Fine, and a wealth of others included in an extensive works cited. Historians may appreciate Turner’s command of American and African American history, while political scientists may find Turner’s political analysis and commentary to be both very accurate and intriguing. Surprisingly, one does not have to be an academic to enjoy the book. Turner uses down-to-earth language, carefully explains important concepts so that anyone may understand them, and her knowledge of popular culture is on full display throughout the text, which makes Trash Talk a must read for all social media enthusiasts. In fact, Trash Talk forces readers to critically examine many of the important roles that social media plays in American politics. More specifically, it explains the complex history behind the use of rumors, legends, and conspiracy theories in American race relations, and their usage in the perpetuation of anti-Black sentiments. One important thread which runs throughout the text is that anti-Obama lore or “unsubstantiated and erroneous statements about Barack Obama” often reflect and play off some of the anti-Black folklore and stereotypes that originated during the Ante-bellum era (5). Trash Talk forces us to consider the dangers that come along with misinforming the public as the dissemination of conspiracy theories (and their various manifestations) become a widely used and acceptable form of political mudslinging, which Turner so convincingly demonstrates, has unique ways of swaying public opinion and public policy.
From the introduction, in Turner’s own words, Trash Talk “documents and analyzes the emergence, dissemination, and impact of a constant stream of anti-Obama rantings that have followed the former president from his pre-candidate days, throughout his time as a candidate, through two terms in office, and now into his post-presidency years” (3). From the outset, Turner’s grasp of popular culture is on full display as she creates a very convincing analogy in comparing the popularity and success of Barack Obama to the sudden emergence of the Snapple brand, essentially saying that like Snapple, Obama was a magnet for negative social commentary for several reasons: he has a unique name, he emerged into the political arena suddenly, amassing a huge fan base seemingly overnight, and he accomplished this using new and unconventional campaign strategies. All in all, like Snapple, Obama immediately seized social spaces that were previously occupied by other candidates.
In the introduction and throughout the text, Turner reminds the reader that for many Blacks, success and popularity often comes with a huge price. She does this by establishing intrinsic connections between anti-Obama lore and the kinds of political backlash that Blacks have historically faced after making political, social, or economic progress. The reader may appreciate the historical background information that Turner includes, which is thorough without becoming overly cumbersome. Turner explains how slavery, the Civil War, Jim Crow laws, and the emergence of the KKK did much to utilize rumor and other forms of anti-Black folklore to establish fears of Black freedom and equality; and once widespread fear of Black upward social mobility took hold, racial bias was reinforced through social policy and campaigns of terror that claimed lives and destroyed Black communities. In the introduction, Turner makes it clear to readers that anti-Obama lore is evidence that the same pernicious sentiments are still very much present in American culture.
In the first chapter, “Flagged Down,” Turner examines anti-Obama lore that seeks to characterize Obama as anti-American and unpatriotic, thereby exposing some of the double standards that Obama faced as a Black politician and presidential candidate, and she discusses the fact that political opponents seemed to scrutinize and take issue with anything and everything that they could, including whether Obama was wearing a flag pin or not. Turner begins chapter 1 with Obama’s ruminations on the topic of wearing flag pins as a form of American symbolism from his autobiography, A Promised Land, in which Obama states that he views symbolism as being far less important than the actual “substance of patriotism” (27). Turner’s careful investigative work (using several fact-checking websites) reveals that the absence of an American flag pin on Obama’s lapel, was viewed by some as an opportunity to unleash a barrage of accusations of being disloyal to his country, a form of scrutiny that white politicians rarely faced when they were seen in public without their flag pins. After reminding readers of the significance that the notion of patriotism gained after the tragic events of 9/11, Turner notes several key instances in which Obama is criticized harshly for not wearing a flag pin. Across social media platforms and in news media outlets, such as MSNBC, Fox, and even Time Magazine, the “pin watch” gained momentum very quickly and even began to dominate news headlines. Turner emphasizes the fact that the pin watch consequently led to more serious anti-Obama folklore intended to make people believe that Obama planned to change the national anthem and redesign the American flag to suit his own unpatriotic tastes. In addition to these erroneous claims, Turner addresses rumors and legends that were disseminated across social media that claimed that Obama held serious disdain for all Americans in uniform, including military veterans and even the Boy Scouts of America. Throughout chapter 1, Turner explores a plethora of anti-Obama lore related to patriotism while also critically and very accurately analyzing various aspects of the social and political climate in America that gave rise to such invalid claims.
In the second chapter, “Articles of Faith,” religious studies meets political science as Turner addresses anti-Obama folklore that questions Obama’s Christian faith. Turner starts by addressing the idea that Obama knew at the start of his political career that having a Middle Eastern name would automatically make him a prime target for accusations of being anti-Christian and even anti-American. Throughout the second chapter, Turner emphasizes the notion that rumors questioning Obama’s faith are intrinsically connected to and fueled by underlying racism and xenophobia that are often dormant in American culture, and through careful investigative work, Turner disproves the hateful rhetoric. She invalidates rumors that Obama installed a Muslim prayer curtain in the White House, that Obama has an inscription praising Allah on the inside of his wedding band, and the rumor that Obama planned to cancel the National Day of Prayer. She also addresses some inaccurate statements made by right-wing political opponents such as Gayle Quinell, who at a 2008 campaign rally in support of Senator John McCain said that Obama could not be trusted because he was an Arab. Turner carefully unpacks Quinell’s false and reckless public statement revealing in the process that such rumors do not need to be accurate to be shared or believed; they only need to resonate with people who share a similar worldview.
In chapter 3, “Born to Run,” Turner addresses anti-Obama folklore targeting the legitimacy of Barack Obama’s birth certificate. Turner describes this category of anti-Obama folklore as being the most pernicious of them all because it is directly connected to his legitimacy to serve as Commander in Chief, and it gave his political opponents false hopes of ending Obama’s political career. According to Turner, rumors that Obama was born in Kenya as opposed to Hawaii, gave rise to two separate classes of birthers, people who believed and helped to spread the notion that Obama’s birth certificate was fake. On the one hand, there are the boss birthers who are described as the birthers with the most wealth, power, and political influence. For instance, Philip J. Berg, Jerome Corsi, Orly Taitz, and Donald Trump are described as boss birthers. The second class of birthers are characterized as worker bee birthers, because they work to spread the false accusations on social media, in chain emails, internet chatrooms, and in comments sections of news stories. Turner carefully explores and analyzes the birther commentary shared across all of these different mediums. Turner contends that the most unfortunate outcome of the birther movement is that the rumors only intensified after the false accusations were refuted by public officials, and Obama’s original birth certificate was made public. As Turner asserts, the birther movement provided fuel for a slew of alt-right political opponents and organizations.
In chapter 4, “Michelle Matters,” Turner addresses some of the anti-Obama folklore that specifically targets Michelle Obama. Readers may appreciate the fact that throughout the chapter Turner emphasizes the notion that much of the anti-Obama folklore targeting Michelle is intrinsically connected to traditional stereotypes regarding Black women, some of which even date back to slavery. For instance, remnants of age-old stereotypes that depict Black women as being inherently militant and angry, masculine, and devoid of femininity, are all present in some of the attacks on Michelle. From unwarranted claims that Michelle’s Princeton thesis is filled with racial hatred, to chain email letters that make absurd claims of Michelle being transgender and Barack being gay, Turner addresses and exposes these rumors and legends for what they truly are—hateful lies spread with intentions of derailing the Obamas’ popularity and political success. One highlight of chapter 4 is a subsection titled, “Angry Black Woman and Affirmative Action Baby.” Here Turner unpacks erroneous claims that the Obamas were never deserving of their Ivy League educations and that they were afforded opportunities to attend prestigious universities simply because of affirmative action policies. Turner underscores the fact that this stereotype dates all the way back to the inception of affirmative action programs in the 1970s, and many Black people seeking higher education still must contend with it. Another important subsection in chapter 4 is titled, “From Welfare Queen to Homicidal Drag Queen.” In this section, Turner deals with the welfare-queen stereotype unfairly placed on Michelle, and critically examines the social media firestorm that was created when talk show host Joan Rivers publicly stated in an interview that Michelle was trans and Barack was gay.
Chapter 5, “Pandemic Levels,” addresses the proliferation of rumors, legends, and conspiracy theories targeting Obama’s dealing with the communicative illnesses: HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and COVID-19. In a subsection titled, HIV/AIDS Lessons, Turner addresses the fact that Obama’s second term in office was nearly jeopardized when it was suddenly revealed that his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, was a proponent of anti-Black genocide conspiracy theories surroundings HIV/AIDS, reflecting folklore that Turner explains has been entrenched in Black communities for decades. In fact, the notion of HIV/AIDS being an instrument of the government harkens back to some of Turner’s previous research on rumor in the Black community, addressed in her 1993 book, I Heard It Through the Grapevine. Turner’s expertise in rumor research is why she can offer readers such useful gems as an Inventory of Conspiracy Theory Activators, in which she lists nine attributes that may make infectious diseases magnets for rumors, legends, and conspiracy theories, the top three attributes being novelty, difficulty in naming, and unstable or vacillating press coverage. In addition to the lists, Turner carefully unpacks each attribute in several other subsections, simultaneously providing historical background information that reveals some of the subtle ways that the old rumors, legends, and conspiracy theories regarding contagion inform new ones. One important takeaway from chapter 5 is that pandemics are easily exploited for political purposes, often breeding a widespread distrust of individual politicians, political parties, and pandemic relief policies.
In chapter 6, “Obama Legends in the Age of Trump,” Turner debunks several popular legends, including QAnon and Pizzagate. Turner also addresses anti-Obama folklore that issues claims of White House wiretapping and Russian and Italian collusion to influence the outcome of the last presidential election. Turner also addresses rumors that, while in office, Obama used taxpayer dollars to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself and his family. One useful aspect of chapter 6 is that Turner offers explanations for why anti-Obama folklore has continued to proliferate long after his tenure in the White House. Underlying political motives are one major reason, and Turner points to Donald Trump as a prime example, emphasizing important roles that he plays in the spreading of anti-Obama lore. Throughout the chapter, Turner makes it clear to readers that fanning the flames created by anti-Obama folklore has become one of Trump’s most effective campaign strategies. Turner even includes a ten-point Trump Conspiracy Theory Manual in which she carefully outlines some of the informal procedures by which Trump and his supporters “methodically redirect any negative attention to Obama and other Democrats” (177). Number four on the list reads, “Rely on passionate followers to express their anti-Obama sentiments on all social media outlets,” while point five reads, “Characterize any disappointing story as fake news or a hoax” (177). This chapter is filled with critical analysis regarding Trump’s role in the perpetuation of anti-Obama folklore, making Trash Talk a very useful tool for those who want to protect themselves from misinformation during the upcoming 2024 presidential elections (for which Trump has already declared his intention of running). All in all, Trash Talk: Anti-Obama Lore and Race in the Twenty-First Century is a text to be enjoyed by folklorists, historians, scholars in other disciplines, and anyone who is remotely interested in the social and political future of the country.
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[Review length: 2245 words • Review posted on February 27, 2023]