than Ebola, but we do not show the flu the same level of respect that we give to the Ebola virus. If we follow the same scientific protocol as Nigeria, which has successfully contained its outbreak, then we could contain any disease that may emerge here in the United States.
Understanding the science of how Ebola works is important because, as we have seen, in places like Maine and New Jersey, elected officials have curbed the rights of those who have been to West Africa, responding with fear instead of science. They are using the fear of the Ebola virus as a basis for discrimination and separation, seeking to quarantine everyone who is traveling from Africa without regard for geography, test results, or if a person is actually symptomatic. Instead, fear mongering is used to curb travel to the area, constrain the movement of people who have visited Africa, and restrict the rights of health providers who could be joining the fight to beat Ebola.
Even American-born black people can fall prey to derogatory stereotypes or hold negative stigmas about Africa and Africans. This crisis represents a golden opportunity for Historically Black Colleges nd Universities (HBCUs ) to reject such behavior throughout the global African community.
We can educate our communities about medical conspiracy beliefs that are rooted in an understanding of medical criminal behaviors while simultaneously working to interpret and frame science in a way that meets our people’s needs for power, prosperity, and health. The knowledge we gain from science can enhance our lives as long we ensure that its lessons are gained and applied in an ethical manner as we take into account the history that brought us to where we are today.
Due to fear-based, knee-jerk reactions in the United States, we’ve forgotten what is really at the heart of this crisis. People are still suffering and dying in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone right now. Nearly 17,000 people have been infected with the virus in those countries and almost 6,000 people have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Many children are now without parents and people are suffering from food shortages and the lack of trade and tourism. Perhaps HBCUs, including Morgan State,
of a long history of structural racism embedded in policies and practices, the black community often remains wary of the news being reported about
certain diseases. Black people in America know all too well how science and medicine can be used to harm, abuse, and deny the humanity of people of African descent. As a result, blacks often don’t trust health officials, don’t engage in preventive health behaviors, and delay needed medical care. With a deadly disease such as Ebola, well-founded distrust can lead to unhealthy behaviors or delays in seeking care that can increase the risk of illness or death.
But there are other reasons people at large subscribe to fears about Ebola. For some people, their fear of Ebola is a reflection of what rap group Public Enemy called “fear of a black planet.” For them, Ebola is a mysterious African/black disease that threatens Western/white civilization. In this sense, the Ebola virus becomes the very projection of racist fears and a reflection of how people in the West view Africa as a dirty and diseased place.
With valid fears based on historical precedent on one hand and racist fears of Africa and Africans on the other, what is it that we should believe? Ebola is a real disease with real consequences. The virus is found in animals in the rich African ecology, such as fruit bats or chimpanzees. The Ebola virus can cross over from animals to humans (through bites or handling wild game), from then from human to
Because of their role as caretakers and nurses, West African women have been the disproportionate victims of Ebola in the hardest hit countries. Two people have died from Ebola so far in the United States and both were West African men—Liberian immigrant Thomas Duncan and the Sierra Leonean surgeon Martin Salia.
human by physical contact or contact with a bodily fluid of an infected person who is showing symptoms.
These are the Ebola facts. We now know the Ebola truth. Ebola is a virus we should understand the same way we understand the way influenza or the common cold operate. In fact, the flu (or influenza) will kill many more people in 2015 in the United States
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