# Obama's Birth Certificate Discrepancies **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905 "2014-01-04T21:24:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/1 "2014-01-04T21:24:17Z")
Those who question the validity of Obama’s birth certificate are vilified as prejudiced. I am not prejudiced, but how do you reconcile these discrepancies: [http://www.theminorityreportblog.com/2014/01/03/obama-busted-birth-cert-contains-wordsplaces-that-did-not-exist-in-1961-african-american-kenya/](http://www.theminorityreportblog.com/2014/01/03/obama-busted-birth-cert-contains-wordsplaces-that-did-not-exist-in-1961-african-american-kenya/) ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/2 "2014-01-04T21:31:42Z")
Seriously? I mean, really…seriously? We’re STILL doing this? First Google hit: [Is Barack Obama's Birth Certificate Fake? | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/birthcertificate.asp) My favorite is the fact that the article claims that “African-American” is on the birth certificate, when that term wasn’t used back then. When in fact, the words “African-American” don’t actually appear. I mean, if you’re going to make crap up, at least make an effort, people. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/3 "2014-01-04T21:31:42Z")
For completeness, [here](http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/birth-certificate-long-form.pdf) is the certificate released by the White House. Now let’s address the points of the site you link to: 1. The certificate doesn’t say Obama is “African-American”. It merely lists his father’s race as “African”, which is a term that existed in 1961. 2. Kenya was called Kenya even before the country’s independence, even though the formal name as a British protectorate was different. See [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya#Etymology). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/4 "2014-01-04T21:35:53Z")
No, birthers mostly get vilified as insane nowadays. Here, go read some [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/birthcertificate.asp). ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/5 "2014-01-04T21:36:48Z")
1. The reference your website cites doesn’t say what the facility was named in 1961. It’s as simple as that. 2. Obama’s father was indeed born in 1936. That puts him at the age of three when WWII broke out and nine when it ended. Makes it unlikely he served in that war. So what? It doesn’t prove the birth certificate is wrong. It may debunk a statement Obama made in one particular speech, but how does that affect the certificate? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/6 "2014-01-04T21:41:42Z")
First, the region has been called Kenya for quite a long time, regardless of whether it was the official name of the country or not. I can see a native calling it that (when giving the birth certificate information) rather than using the hated British Empire term. Second, the certificate says BHO the First is “African,” not “African-American.” You’d think a lawyer would notice the difference - that he’s jumped ahead and filled in non-existent blank is telling. As for the term… BHO the First was indeed African, not American Negro, and may well have given or insisted on that term whether it was common in 1961 or not. As for the name of the hospital, I don’t have time to dig through Hawaiian business and organization records but I am sure there’s an equally plausible answer that again boils down to a blinkered misunderstanding on the part of the writer. 1. Information on birth certificates comes from the parents and other than occasional “regularization” of terms, is usually accepted as-is, as a legal/civil statement of record. That his parents did not use white-mainstream-America terms is not surprising or noteworth. 2. If the CIA or any equivalent is going to forge a birth certificate, I’d assume they can get such details right - and not use three completely anachronistic terms on one simple sheet. 3. So he’s Kenyan. Too late to worry about. Get a life. ETA: mega-ninja’ed. I am proud, grasshoppers. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/7 "2014-01-04T21:42:53Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > 1. The reference your website cites doesn’t say what the facility was named in 1961. It’s as simple as that. > > 2. Obama’s father was indeed born in 1936. That puts him at the age of three when WWII broke out and nine when it ended. Makes it unlikely he served in that war. So what? It doesn’t prove the birth certificate is wrong. It may debunk a statement Obama made in one particular speech, but how does that affect the certificate? President Obama’s grandfather, Stanley Armour Dunham, enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 and served in the 1830th Ordnance Supply and Maintenance Company. His unit provided support to the aviation resources for the D-Day invasion in Normandy. He was raised by Mr. Dunham a significant part of his life. I think he misspoke when he said “father,” when he meant “grandfather.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/8 "2014-01-04T21:44:35Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > 1. Obama’s father was indeed born in 1936. That puts him at the age of three when WWII broke out and nine when it ended. Makes it unlikely he served in that war. So what? It doesn’t prove the birth certificate is wrong. It may debunk a statement Obama made in one particular speech, but how does that affect the certificate? [Stanley Armour Dunham](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Armour_Dunham#World_War_II), Obama’s maternal grandfather, served in WWII. > [@](#): > > Dunham enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army on January 18, 1942, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and served in the European Theatre of World War II with the 1830th Ordnance Supply and Maintenance Company, Aviation. During D-Day, this unit helped to support the 9th Air Force. Stanley and his brother Ralph were deployed to France six weeks after D-Day. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/9 "2014-01-04T22:07:05Z")
> [@barbitu8](#): > > how do you reconcile these discrepancies: I say: They are lying through their teeth. There. See how easy it was? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/10 "2014-01-04T22:26:12Z")
Why isn’t this in the Pit? God, they are still fighting this. Mad, mad, mad. How’s this: Hawaii’s statehood was tainted (make up a reason; congress didn’t have a quorum is a good one) so he is not a natural born citizen. Or: he was born on a planet of Altair and parachuted into Area 51 by aliens. I could, but thankfully won’t, continue. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/11 "2014-01-04T22:36:34Z")
I really wish these idiots(not the OP) would come up with something \*new \*for a change. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/12 "2014-01-04T22:43:02Z")
Yep - it’s a conspiracy - the CIA decided to raise this Manchurian candidate and thought the best way to have him sneak by was to name him “Barack Hussein Obama”. And the funny thing to me is - he actually did run for president when one of the two individuals running wasn’t born in the US. If Obama had ACTUALLY been born outside the US - we’d never hear the end of it. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/13 "2014-01-04T22:53:08Z")
I really can’t be bothered to look it up now, but one poster on this fine board posted the one thing that would get people to quit touting this moronic “theory” about President Obama’s birth. In short (and I’m paraphrasing): “The only thing that would convince these morons that Obama was born in Hawaii was if the birth certificate had the word ‘N~’ on it.” Give my personal experience with CTers, I’m fully convinced that poster is 100% correct. OP: I suggest you examine _why_ you’re touting this nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/14 "2014-01-04T23:12:44Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > As for the name of the hospital, I don’t have time to dig through Hawaiian business and organization records but I am sure there’s an equally plausible answer that again boils down to a blinkered misunderstanding on the part of the writer. Here’s what Richard Silverleib wrote: > [@](#): > > On the Birth Certificate released by the White House, the listed place of birth is “Kapi’olani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital”. This cannot be, because the hospital(s) in question in 1961 were called ”KauiKeolani Children’s Hospital” and “Kapi’olani Maternity Home”, respectively. The name did not change to Kapi’olani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital until 1978, when these two hospitals merged. How can this particular name of the hospital be on a birth certificate dated 1961 if this name had not yet been applied to it until 1978? And here’s what Snopes said: > [@](#): > > The former Kapi’olani Maternity Home became the Kapi’olani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital (where Barack Obama was born) in 1931, and it retained that appellation until 1971, when its name was shortened to Kapi’olani Hospital. The Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital (where Barack Obama was not born) was a separate entity which merged with the Kapi’olani Hospital in 1978 to become the Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women and Children. Snopes provides cites for what they wrote. Silverleib does not. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/15 "2014-01-04T23:39:12Z")
Now lets see if the OP’s belief is non-falsifiable, and will reject all contrary evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/16 "2014-01-05T01:12:23Z")
Come on people, he’s just asking questions. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/17 "2014-01-05T01:42:32Z")
This stuff has gotten really boring. It’s time we demanded to see Hillary’s birth certificate (assuming they existed that long ago). ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/18 "2014-01-05T01:50:16Z")
Definitely not the join date I expected. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/19 "2014-01-05T02:01:04Z")
> [@barbitu8](#): > > Those who question the validity of Obama’s birth certificate are vilified as prejudiced. I wouldn’t call people who repeatedly lie through their teeth about Obama’s birth certificate “prejudiced.” I would call them “racist as a Klan rally.” Oh, and the British East African Protectorate was transformed into the Crown Colony/Protectorate of Kenya in 1920. > **[Kenya Colony](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya_Colony)** > > The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, commonly known as British Kenya or British East Africa, was part of the British Empire in Africa from 1920 until 1963. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British Crown colony in 1920. Technically, the "Colony of Kenya" referred to the interior lands, while a 16 km (10 mi) coastal strip, nominally on lease from the Sultan of Zanzibar, was the "Protectorate of Kenya", but the two were controlled as a single adm... ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905/20 "2014-01-05T02:14:01Z")
Why do we have an obligation to reconcile discrepancies to a crowd that will not accept known facts of record that aren’t disputed? That’s like going to a lunatic asylum and arguing with the lunatics and calling it social outreach. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-birth-certificate-discrepancies/677905.md?page=2)