Currently, narrating human tragedy may sound more like fiction, and perhaps fiction may have more humanity. 

Whilst sensationalizing headlines regarding all things related to African tragedy is a common place for western mainstream media, the news coverage on the current “war on Ebola” is pervasively flooding. Much like scenes from a chilling movie with endless fear-inducing images of workers in hazmat costumes, reinforced with invasive stigmatizing, reductive images, and unclear language of medical folklore, the purpose seems to confuse and mount public anxiety.

More often than not, with the ubiquity of whiteness narrating Africa, popular imagination inherited during the colonial era of mass idea dissemination…, we see the dissemination of a "single story". By and large, in the dangerously monotone styled narration the villain is usually the African and the hero looks much like the western narrator…. 

Yes, the Ebola hemorrhagic fever is ravaging West Africa, and yes some have said it is spiraling  out of control, undermining the social structures and exposing weak public institutions. Having  said that, we are reminded by Mandisi Majavu that "the poor health situation in Africa exists largely due to colonialism, imperialism and global inequality… And further weakening structures, catastrophes such as epidemics have been said, get managed out of “playbooks"; seemingly formulated by design to destroy and dismantle local structures. Hence, the reported mistrust in some West African countries concerning the spread of the Ebola disease is of no surprise, and is perhaps with merit. 

Dominant narratives and representation

Varying American mainstream media styles of reporting on Ebola confirm how narratives are spaces of domination. As scenarios and stories of the arrival of the virus from Africa into the U.S. rapidly varies, the inundation of sensationalized features that objectify the African body, much for the benefit of western readers, is consistently troublesome but not surprising. Bleakly evident is how human beings are portrayed; for some of us, the language of the inhumane voice and the circulating reductive images are more than uncomfortable; they’re mutilating.

Emphasizing, the prevailing narrative is “that black Africans living in western countries are the diseased ‘other’ who pose a threat to the health of whites”, while the local African population is portrayed as unqualified and in dire need of being saved by the west. 

Further, the current discourse around the outbreak, beyond medical racism, -see Teju Cole “the Fox News of explosive incontinence”-, attempts to remind us of how “the scourge of antiBlackness is savage, deadly, and global”…. As Narcisse Jean Alcide Nana  states, “Major clichés  and few strong allegories conjure up the spasms of this ongoing malaise to the point of oversimplifying the field of African security.” 

Narratives of Villains and Victims

The African Ebola patient is classically “othered” and portrayed as a villain and perpetrator, while the American Ebola patient is depicted as a victim. Treating Africa as dirty and disease infested, rather disturbingly, Newsweek’s August 2014 magazine cover features an image of a chimpanzee with the words, A Back Door for Ebola: Smuggled Bushmeat Could Spark a U.S Epidemic. Overall, …, the meaning behind the illustration is saturated with a historically pathological and racial depiction whereas the story illuminates incompetent and immoral journalistic performance. 

While such and other sources fuel panic and racist reactions in and beyond the American borders -see Ishmael Bah, we have been made aware of how “in Germany, an African woman who recently traveled to Kenya — far from the affected countries — fell ill with a stomach virus at work; the entire building was locked down. In Brussels, an African man had a simple nosebleed at a shopping mall, and the store where it happened was sterilized. In Seoul, a bar put up a sign saying, “we apologize but due to the Ebola Virus we are not accepting Africans”. 

The New York Times article -October 5, 2014- titled Ebola Victim’s Journey From Liberian War to ‘Fight for Life in U.S’. A feature regarding Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian national who while visiting the U.S. was diagnosed with Ebola in Dallas…, attempts to sell a story that more than Ebola underscoring the U.S. as “the savior of life”. But beyond the health status and concern of the patient, in a disturbing and intrusive approach, senselessly, delves into the private history of the patient also weaving in the story of his child’s mother. Sensationalizing the story further, it reports irrelevant accounts such as describing the interior of the apartment – living space furnishings, types of furniture, color of floor, etc. – where Duncan was staying during his visit in the U.S. Additionally, as it further disregards the patient’s privacy, it publicizes a full graphic of the apartment layout…

On October 6, 2014, CNN, in an article titled Who are the American Ebola patients, features lists the American patient’s name; age; organization he/she works for; where he/she was infected, and the current health status of the patient. On September 9, 2014, when Fox News reported the arrival of another American Ebola patient, it announced how based on Emory University Hospital “the identity and status remains confidential”…

All while, sounding geographically unknowledgeable, on September 9, 2014, Fox News had a difficult time making the distinction between Liberia and Nigeria. … Capitalizing on mounting fear and anxiety Ebola is portrayed as the disease of the diseased black man and a burden for the rest. Meanwhile, the American patients are represented in a rather “white-savior industrial complex” manner; as Aid workers or volunteers  who’ve journeyed to  Liberia to save lives and now implicated, all while they were doing-good and offering charitable  service. Telling their story in a sentimental tone, as victims of the “African” malady.  

Characteristically, the indicated written accounts and others not mentioned further highlight how narratives are spaces for dominant groups to take on the role of defining the out-group’s identity. Far from educating the public and taking responsible media action on the outbreak that is projected to infect “more than 1.4 million persons in the next few weeks”, it has taken the opportunity to drive fear. Insisting on coverage that speaks to the militarization of West African

epicenters of Ebola and all else that incites panic, while as stated by Horace Campbell “placing  no attention on measures for public education,” there is no sight to foster and address the overwhelming need “to diminish the racialization of Ebola to clarify that the first recognized outbreak took place not in Africa, but in Marburg Germany, hence the name given to Ebola as Marburg Virus”. 

Having said all of that, …, in the end, what we prominently ought to demand and what will matter the most is how to contain this lethal virus and how Africans can be mobilized to save their own… Significantly, as stated by Horace Campbell, “The very same institutions and organizations that have been at the forefront of bio economic warfare in Africa cannot lead the mobilization against Ebola.” Furthermore, “ECOWAS has been able in the past to intervene in Liberia and Sierra Leone to bring peace. Collectively, ECOWAS and the AU possess the technical and medical capabilities to be more vigorous in response to Ebola. There is the mistaken perception abroad that Africa does not have the medical personnel to fight this epidemic. However, the ability to mobilize the resources in Africa for a more robust response depends on political will.”

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