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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEbola panic is getting pretty racist
By Arielle Duhaime-Ross
The first time a reporter asked a CDC representative whether Thomas Duncan the first patient to receive an Ebola diagnosis in the US was an American citizen, the question seemed pretty tame. One could excuse it as a general inquiry about the Duncans nationality during the first press conference announcing his diagnosis. But after the CDC declined to answer, the question kept coming. "Is he a citizen?" reporters repeatedly asked. "Is he one of us?" they meant.
The current Ebola crisis has been tinged with racism and xenophobia. The disease rages in West Africa, and has therefore largely infected people of color. But somehow Americans were among the first to get a dose of Zmapp the experimental anti-Ebola drug this summer, despite the fact that Africans have been dying from the current Ebola epidemic since its emergence in Guinea in December. There are a lot of reasons for that, of course. The drug is potentially dangerous and only exists in short supply. Its also extremely costly. And it originated in Canada, so it's unsurprising that North America controls its use.
And now that Ebola has "reached" the US, American privilege white privilege, especially is floating to the surface, in even less subtle ways.
The difference in treatment for US patients and African patients is stark, beyond the use of experimental drugs. Some Ebola-stricken regions in West Africa dont have access to fuel to power ambulances, and many health workers lack the protective gear to stave off infection. Which is why it's so strange that Duncan's health has been used as an excuse to voice concerns about the presence of foreigners in Dallas. Instead of asking government officials why the WHO has a much smaller budget than the CDC or why it has suffered massive cuts in the last two years, Americans have preferred to focus on themselves.
Yesterday, The Raw Story wrote about how immigrants living in the same neighborhood as Duncans family were facing immense discrimination. Some have been turned away from their jobs, David Edwards writes, while others have been refused service in restaurants. The color of their skin and their accents makes them a target, even though they never came into contact with Duncan, and therefore pose zero risk. It doesnt matter: theyre dark-skinned and foreign. Theyre in Dallas. They might be infectious.
more
http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/8/6941749/ebola-panic-is-getting-pretty-racist
Spazito
(50,375 posts)bigdarryl
(13,190 posts)TBF
(32,068 posts)The countries at issue are north of our oil "interests" in Africa. You saw our response to genocide in Rwanda - zilcho. Why would this be any different?
Ask the rich old white guys - like the Koch Bros. - what they think of Ebola. I'm sure they didn't waste a prayer on Mr. Duncan.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)are idiots.
Downwinder
(12,869 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)has to be someone to blame.
Downwinder
(12,869 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)most likely to panic in the face of any kind of threat -real or not.
YarnAddict
(1,850 posts)that the first three Americans to get Ebola were health care workers, I don't have a problem with that. In an epidemic situation, keeping healthcare workers alive and healthy needs to be a priority, because without doctors, no one would be treated at all.
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)Though I'm not sure the doctors in the affected areas in West Africa are being treated.
FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)All you see when discussing Ebola is emotion. Peoples fears, hates, prejudices, anger, etc have been the primary responses to all Ebola threads even here.
Logically, Ebola is not something the average person need ever be concerned about when compared to other diseases they are far more likely to contract and possible die from.
IronLionZion
(45,462 posts)I was truly astonished that RWers loudly protested Obama bringing Ebola patients over here, and those were the white health workers who were American citizens helping out in Africa. I told every RW nutjob spewing this that the 2 people were white Americans, but they didn't care. They just felt that Obama had a plan to destroy America through Ebola and open borders, and they tried to connect it to the refugee children who came here from central America, and that was a bit racist and xenophobic.