Kaci Hickox: Stand by Her All Good Americans!

  Recently a young lady and nurse from Maine has become a double hero.  She was courageous enough to volunteer to become one of the heroes helping to stop the deadly disease from Africa, Ebola.   After returning from Africa, she was greeted by a knee-jerk and clearly racially motivated ignorant response in both New Jersey and Maine. While showing absolutely no symptoms of the slightly contagious disease, Ebola, she was treated as if she is a criminal.  Checking her for outward signs of the disease was reasonable.  When the highly inaccurate screening thermometer indicated the possibility that she might have a fever, instead of verifying that measurement, she was confined to an unheated tent in 45 degree Fahrenheit weather for 3 days, only to be released after a national outcry. She was then allowed to return to Maine, where the state has , again, treated her as if she were a criminal.  While about half of her neighbors have been supportive of her, about half have shown their rear ends by treating her abominably.  I have visited Maine, and about half of the Mainers are good, friendly people, and about half are rude jerks, so the numbers make sense.

  Kaci has taken a very vocal stance against the horrid treatment that she has received.  She  has defied the ignorant  treatment she has received, while not doing anything that would present a danger to anyone should she magically suddenly become ill.  Should she become ill, I hope she goes somewhere she can get proper medical care.

  I have noticed that the irrational response to returning health-care workers has been in Northern states. The outbreak of Ebola is in Africa.  Naturally, the victims needing help are Africans.  Southern states have large numbers of voters with African ancestry.  Northern states have few.  I submit that the illogical response in Northern states is because they just don't give a dang about what happens in Africa and, in fact, the response is racist.  I'm sure that the Yankees in question would deny that they are racist.  After all, it is we dumb Southerners who are. As one black Southern civil rights leader said in the 60s, the Yankees give Negroes a piece of rat poison and tell them it's cake.  Some white Southerners are vocally racist, and still have black friends.

  I hasten to add, many Northerners are decent people and have better sense than what is being displayed. Leaders of the American volunteer response to Ebola have already seen that it is becoming more difficult to recruit help in the struggle to contain and eradicate Ebola.  If it cannot be stopped in Africa, it will be here. Then we will have the governors of these Northern states to blame.  Raise your voice in support of the effort to contain Ebola.  We do not need to treat the volunteers as if they are criminals.