Respecting the Smears: Anti-Obama Folklore Anticipates Fake News

Patricia A. Turner is Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the Departments of African American Studies and World Arts and Cultures. Turner holds a BS in Political Science from SUNY College at Oneonta and an MA and PhD in Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley. She writes on African American folklore and popular culture. Her most recent book is Crafted Lives: Stories and Studies of African American Quilters (2008). She is currently working on a book on rumors, legends, and conspiracy theories about Barack Obama.