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Ebola and White Response
Author’s Note: The original version of this essay was first written and published five years ago in October of 2014, during the first outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. At that time, a “liberal” black Democrat was President of the United States. This piece analyzes ex-President Obama’s and the Western world’s response to that horrendous disease.
At this writing, a new Ebola outbreak, this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is raging once again. Reports indicate that upwards of 3,000 people have been infected, and at least one million more are at risk.
In a subsequent post, I will look at Donald Trump, a white “conservative” president’s response, as well as the rest of the world’s, to this current outbreak. But I thought it important to first understand and recall just exactly how and why the global north has “traditionally” responded to black disease and black death.
A Five Year Perspective
A s the Ebola virus has now been confirmed in at least one — and possibly two — people within the US, let’s take a closer look at how this disease has been responded to in the global North and West versus its origination point — West Africa.
Over the last six months, Ebola has killed over 3,000 people and stricken thousands more, primarily in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Although this virus first appeared…
