Backlash against Whites in Africa

[Emergent, RN]

A friend of mine has a son who is a missionary in Africa. I don't remember which country, it's a rural, underdeveloped area.

They are now afraid of Whites, since they consider Europeans and Americans as disease carriers. People will point and yell out at Whites, the children sometimes throwing stones.

Interesting huh? We had a few, similar attitudes here towards Asians. Humans are predictably irrational and tribal.

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

That exact same thing happened to me while I was living in Peru during the Swine Flu.

Americans vocally blamed Mexico for spreading the virus to the US, but once it got to the US, we spread it everywhere else via international air travel. I was working on a public health project, and a few times I was asked to leave the clinic because people were uncomfortable.

I was never super offended by it, but I always thought it was kind of funny; I'd tell people again and again that I'd been living in Peru for months before the flu season began, but they were still concerned.

I remember one of my coworkers/roommates (also American) got a really nasty, infected spider bite on her ankle. We took her to the urgent care to have it looked at. We told the doctor it was an observed spider bite; he glanced at it, then looked back up and said solemnly, "Nope. Swine Flu." ?

I hope your friend's son is staying safe! With all of the reports out there about healthcare workers being attacked in other countries for fear that they're carriers, hopefully he has a way to lay low and a community that recognizes/welcomes him.

[Sweetbeth]

On 6/1/2020 at 1:02 PM, Emergent said:

A friend of mine has a son who is a missionary in Africa. I don't remember which country, it's a rural, underdeveloped area.

They are now afraid of Whites, since they consider Europeans and Americans as disease carriers. People will point and yell out at Whites, the children sometimes throwing stones.

Interesting huh? We had a few, similar attitudes here towards Asians. Humans are predictably irrational and tribal.

that was just a drop in the bucket when compared to how white people discriminates against Africans or African American even when there is no pandemic. I bet the white missionary had a glimpse into that harsh reality.