Moving his focus to the current Ebola crisis, Michael Gerson claims that the Ebola crisis demands that America act quickly. Gerson stated that Obama was very late when the president ordered 3,000 troops to West Africa, specifically Liberia, in early September. Gerson said that although it was a step forward in the fight against Ebola, the action was much too late because it will take weeks, even months for these policies and commands to be implemented. Meanwhile, the Ebola virus in West Africa will continue to spread exponentially. Gerson argued that the United States acted far too slowly in this fight against a virus that could be potentially cause not only hundreds of thousands of deaths, but also civil disorder and economic collapse in Africa. Gerson stated that the most immediate threat is the rapid spread of the disease in the major city of Lagos, Nigeria. Furthermore, as a virus multiplies, it also mutates. He stated that although not incredibility likely, scientists are worried that as it replicates, the virus could mutate to become harder to detect, more resistant to treatment, and easier to transmit.
While I thought that the lecture was very informative and interesting, I was left wondering why the United States has waited so long to recognize this as a public health crisis and act to end this outbreak. Mr. Gerson did not mention any reasons why this might be. While I’m sure financial reasons are part of the reason why it has taken the United States so long to act, the issue of race cannot be ignored. Let’s not forget that this outbreak is in Africa, a continent filled with people who are still considered inferior to some in the West simply because of their race. If this outbreak were to have happened in Western Europe, it would have never taken this long for the United States to act. This trend of waiting to help Africans or African-Americans is not something new. As exemplified by the lack of immediate response to Hurricane Katrina, the United States has a history of failing to help people of color.
I’m not sure why Gerson didn’t explore this topic in his lecture; perhaps it is because he was in an overwhelmingly White audience or because it is simply not his expertise but the issue of race in public health crises cannot be ignored. Whether we like it or not, public policy decisions in America have been tainted by issues of race and economic inequality and the trend still continues today. Racial and economic barriers that still separate not only Americans but also America and the rest of the world.
It is entirely possible to combat this virus if we recognize the humanity in all of the people that are affected. Just like the strides that PEPFAR has made to help stop the transmission of HIV/AIDS in Africa, efforts can be made to stop the spread of Ebola.
Lastly, I will say that I ran across an article entitled, “One Powerful Illustration Shows Exactly What's Wrong With How the West Talks About Ebola.” Here is the image:
I agree wholeheartedly with your analysis that Americans in general did not care about the Ebola outbreak in Africa for so long primarily because of the differences that they assume exist between Africans and ourselves.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting aspect of the racism found in the Ebola outbreak is the assumption that all western African countries are the same, and that they are similarly affected by Ebola. A student from Nigeria was rejected from a Texas college because the college was concerned about him spreading Ebola. However, as the article (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/15/texas-college-s-ebola-racism-reaches-a-new-low.html) states, "Unlike its three most affected neighboring countries, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, citizens in Nigeria are under no threat of becoming infected with the disease within their borders, or at least no more than the threat we face in our country—and definitely not as much risk as an institution merely minutes away from its own outbreak."
I completely agree that race and economic inequality are a large issue in the reason why the United States was so late to react. It was not until much later, when Ebola was detected in our country, that their was much of a buzz about the infection, although it had been affecting other places tremendously. I believe this is because of the views Americans have of being superior to many countries that are not as economically well off as the USA. I credit a large part of this to media that is put out in movies and T.V. and the view being portrayed of many African countries as being inferior. The views of many Americans are skewed and very uneducated of what is happening in other countries and that this is partly because of the racist thoughts that still haunt our country. I think there is still a view from people with racist views that this is not something we should have to deal with in African countries, because their views of what is actually happening in these countries is so uneducated and distorted by racial media.
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