Friday, October 10, 2014
Ebola cases in the U.S.
Without a doubt, there will be more Ebola cases in the United States. However, I want to pose this question to you that was posed to me by my sixteen years old son, "Mama, if the people are sick with this deadly disease, why bring them here to the United States?" In response, I said, "Steven, if you were in the medical field, or a missionary, or in the military and you went over to Africa, to risk your life in trying to save theirs, and if you got sick, wouldn't you want us to come back and get you to bring you home to the U.S., where you could receive the best medical treatment available?" That gave him a pause. Now, I understand his frustration, his anger, his resentment and sentiments all together; I can't say that same question has never entered my mind because it has. But, aren't we suppose to be our brothers' keepers, our sisters' keepers? Aren't we blessed so that we can bless others? Aren't we taught so we can teach others? Here is my question to you, if the white doctors received the best drug available to help them survive, why didn't the Liberian also receive this same drug? Are we, as a country, still that divided that only the BEST can be give to a white person, and the mediocre to the black?
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I have to admit, I'm a little confused at why race is being brought up in this argument. I think we can all agree, no one really knew the facts of the case, nor the condition the man was in when he was at the hospital. I did hear CNN say that the man was "too sick" to receive the treatment, because it would have killed him if he had of been given the medicine. I don't think that's necessarily a "race issue." Also, one of the white doctors was given antibodies in Liberia, prior to his return to the United States, which they now believe is what saved his life. It's not about giving "mediocre" treatment to a black person, and giving a white person "the best." In all reality, only one black person has been treated here in the U.S. so how can you infer that blacks in the US aren't receiving the same care? You see, you will always divide and cause racial tension if you look for it in every situation. The reason there is still a divide, is because people feel like they have to play the race card with every situation. Here's an idea, maybe the Dallas hospital just sucks at Ebola treatment because they're not trained for it? Maybe the Liberian man was too sick to be saved? Maybe, just maybe, it had absolutely nothing to do with race, and all to do with the blatant fact that Ebola kills 70% of its victims. Maybe that's why the man was unable to recover...
ReplyDeleteGreg,
ReplyDeleteI am not "playing the race card," I am asking a question. Erin Burnette on CNN asked the exact same question. Anderson Cooper on CNN asked the exact same question. They just happen to be white....are they too playing the race card? If there were thousands of Africans that have died from this disease, why was the medicine only used on the "white doctors?" That is a valid question and cannot simply be ignored or unasked.
Now, I am going to play the race card....As an African American woman, I have ENDUDRED unfair treatment at medical facilities before. We are still treated differently from a white person. What I will not do, is turn a blind eye to this any longer. There is a known fact, that blacks are treated unfairly to whites, in every facet of life. PERIOD!!! Have racial prejudices improved from the 60's or earlier, perhaps; at least we want to thing that they have. Or is it, that bigotry and prejudices are "covered up" by those who hold such feelings and are only revealed when the opportunity if right for them to do so. I hate that people are getting sick or dying for this disease. I hate it with passion! But when jouralists, from a reputable network, ask a question I think it should be addressed.