The recent study published by Michael Worobey et. al1. theorizing that AIDS left Africa for Haiti in the mid 1960s and then stormed into the U.S. may turn out to be a very positive event both for the advancement of science and for unveiling just how pervasively white supremacist ideologies still taint the modern scientific community. This study is forcing us to lift many rocks underneath which lurks some very creepy creatures to whom social as well as natural scientists need pay closer attention.
The media fanfare that accompany Worobey’s “Super -Contaminated Haitian Immigrant who single-handily carried AIDS from his ancestral Africa back to America ” hypothesis is rather strange considering how a major AIDS – related news concerning the tragic failure of Merk’s Experimental AIDS Vaccine2 went almost unnoticed, just a month earlier. Is this indicative of what really makes Fortress America tick?
The timing of Worobey’s study is also an important element to take into consideration. It has hit the news the same month that James Watson, the aged Nobel laureate geneticist, suggested that: “Africans are genetically inferior to Europeans”. Although many in the scientific community jumped in the bandwagon condemning Watson, there is little evidence that the white supremacist ideas he expressed are a rarity in this milieu. In fact, his statements reported in a November 2000 article of the San Francisco Chronicle3, suggest that Watson’s racism is anything but sudden.
But, is Watson in want for company in 2007? Hardly so!
To convince themselves of the genetic superiority of their “race”, we have seen many despicable efforts deployed recently by white scientists from disciplines like archeology and computer modeling. For instance, some have specialized in what I would term “virtual Michaeljacksonism” whereby the Black grandson of Black Queen Tiye4, has been turned into a white-skinned boy lost in KMT, the land of OSIRIS – the Land of the Blacks. This fraudulent whitening of the famous African Pharaoh Tuntankhamun has been brilliantly exposed on the website of Professor Manu Ampim5.
The scientific creed that seems to guide these folks appear rather simple. If it is a great civilization in Africa, whereby builders of majestic and awe-inspiring pyramids have painted themselves in their own tombs6, looking exactly as they do as their ancestors before them did, exactly as they were described by the ancient Greeks, the computer modeling done by the so-called modern experts must find a way to correct all anomalies, until those responsible for these great feat of civilization become as white as can be. Conversely, if the matter concerns a deadly pandemic that takes root in colonial Africa, whereby European colonizers had complete control over the African continent, traveling to and fro as often as they please. Whereby plenty of evidence confirms 1) that contaminated polio vaccines made from Chimp tissue and tested on millions of people have resulted in well documented deaths7 2) That the scientists involved have been caught lying and trying to cover up 8the facts 3) that it is clear that there was every opportunity for HIV to be one of the many contaminations of the Polio Vaccines which colonized Africans were forced to receive 4) that all this evidence of a man-made origin of AIDS have been available to the scientific community all along (including video evidence, which you the reader can now consult online in English9 and in French10)…
Yet, somehow, Worobey’s computer model finds this one descendant of deported Africans who leaves his native Haiti sometimes in the 1960s to go to Africa (please note there has never been a direct flight linking Haiti with any country in Africa), then beats all the frequent flyers and frequent boaters of his time to return to Haiti (which he was fleeing for fear of political persecution), under the same Duvalier dictatorship still in place upon his return. And, at last, our intrepid Haitian globetrotter extraordinaire, invades America to bring the HIV virus he was carrying where no HIV has gone before.
Indeed, for all its flaws, Worobey’s study offers an opportunity for everyone, Haitians in particular, to discover some very important information about the AIDS phenomenon and about the deep-seated racism that still permeates our post-colonial world – including the so-called “scientific community”.
- The fact that Michael Worobey has often been called upon to try to quiet down or to discredit Edward Hooper’ theory which posits that the AIDS pandemic stems from contaminated polio vaccination campaign is not at all insignificant. Last year Hooper warned about potential manipulation of data to create false but sensational scientific results11.
- The outrage caused by Worobey’s indexing of Haitians as the culprits who brought AIDS to the U.S. has led to more people learning how AIDS more than likely got created in colonized Africa in the first place. i.e through Euro-American scientists’ unethical vaccine production and testing in colonial Congo.
White world leaders, including those hiding under the cover of science or humanism, have a tendency to gang up on South-African President Thabo Mbeki whenever he dares lend an ear to the scientists who insist that the man-made disease theory, among others, deserve to be taken seriously. Now, perhaps, more people will take the time to weigh the evidence before they pass judgment.
In one of his powerful speeches12, African man of science and humanitarian Dr. Phillip Emeagwali wrote:
“Religion is based on faith, while science is based on fact and reason – and science is neutral to race. Unfortunately, scientists are not neutral to race.
Take, for example, the origin of AIDS, an international disease. According to scientific records, the first person to die from AIDS was a 25-year-old sailor named David Carr, of Manchester, England.
Carr died on August 31, 1959, and because the disease that killed him was then unknown, his tissue samples were saved for future analysis.
The “unknown disease” that killed David Carr was reported in The Lancet on October 29, 1960. On July 7, 1990, The Lancet retested those old tissue samples taken from David Carr and reconfirmed that he had died of AIDS.”
Quickly, subsequent studies13 came to discredit this conclusion of a European (British) origin for AIDS.
Obviously, unlike Britain, Haiti does not have the necessary army of scientists to conduct quick studies to escape the consequences of the stigma associated with such heavy accusations (CDC’s 4H in the 1980s and now Worobey’s). So, Worobey’s latest storm will almost certainly cause more damage to Haiti than was ever suffered by Britain.
And, as we can see from the way the dominant media outlets treat information, it will be a while before truth and justice prevail in this debate. But, every now and again an honest voice is raised loud enough to remind us not to allow our brains to fall asleep and to remain vigilant. Dr. Paul Farmer’s is one such voice and his book AIDS and Accusations: Haiti and the Geography of Blame14 could not have had a more appropriate title.
Brian Martin in “The burden of proof and the origin of acquired immune deficiency syndrome“15 wrote the following:
“There is a distinct difference in the way that different theories about the origin of acquired immune deficiency syndrome have been treated, with the widely supported cut-hunter theory given relatively little scrutiny, while the oral polio vaccine theory has been subject to intense criticism. This difference in treatment cannot be explained as application of the scientific method. A better explanation is that the burden of proof is put on all contenders to the cut-hunter theory, giving it an unfair advantage, especially given that this assignment of the burden of proof appears to reflect non-scientific factors”.
In Haitian culture we say that “Deceit gallops (ahead) for a hundred years, yet truth catches up to him in a single day”. Kidonk, galope Worobey, galope !
Jafrikayiti (Jean Saint-Vil) was born in Port-au-Prince , Haiti , and currently lives in Canada . He hosts two radio programs in Ottawa and has been featured as political analyst by CBC radio and TV, Embassy Magazine, ZNet, CTV and Rogers Ottawa TV. He is the author of “LAFIMEN: Listwa Pèp Ayisyen Depi Nan Ginen”, CD#1 (2003), CD#2&3 (2006) and “Viv Bondye ! Aba Relijyon!” (2000). Canada ). His personal website is www.jafrikayiti.com
