OMG! 'Black Power' Politics & Ebola

For this blog, and my job, I monitor the Google term "Homeland Security" on a daily basis, sometimes even hourly depending on what is happening within the country. Today, however, I am disappointed. I read an article discussing the shortfalls of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in relation to the Ebola "crisis" here in America. What was even more shocking was the context this article took from addressing a serious healthcare issue and the DHS to finger pointing and blatant ethic slander. What am I referring to? Well, this article: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/10/head_of_homeland_security_links_ebola_to_black_power.html

Now, first I had to process the writer's disgusting phrasing, such as "In short, Johnson is an advocate of ‘black power’ politics. Unfortunately he’s not the only one. Michelle Obama based her 1985 Princeton thesis on Carmichael and Hamilton’s book which preached the rejection of assimilation, white middle-class values, nonviolence, and coalition building." Writers often create drama online to get web hits. I wanted to read beyond this and vet the article for its true purpose. As I read on, I became more disappointment. The article ends with, "While Americans scratch their heads in disbelief over this administration’s seeming ineptitude over Ebola, the long-dead communist Carmichael’s dream of sticking it to ‘whitey’ via the White House and its apparatchiks is coming true." WOW!

First, I wasn't aware anyone in this country is still using the phrase "whitey"... Second, the writer's accusations of reverse discrimination are led with what else? Racism! I can't believe at the end of 2014, that this type of thinking still exists- but it does. And thanks to our freedoms, the writer can publish this filth as his opinion. I grew up in a segregated part of Ohio. While time has changed much, I still remember what it is like to be unfairly judged. And, I think this writer is not only unfairly judging the motives of Michelle Obama (and so many others), but he is unfairly treating those who have contracted Ebola and those who may be at risk of contracting it in Africa. This doesn't have to be a race issue. It isn't a race issue. It is a medical issue that has become a concern for the DHS because it involves the overall public welfare of those who live in this country regardless of color, creed or sexual preference. I remember a time when many people believed only "the gays" could get HIV. How wrong, insensitive, and inbred was our thinking back then?!

My point is this.... the longer we use one another's differences to play the blame game, the longer we fail to spearhead the issue at hand. There is always a time and place for politics. There is never a time or place for discrimination. I'm so disappointed that the writer of the mentioned article decided to use his own insecurities and fears to skew the truth and take attention away from a very serious issue.

Twyla N. Garrett