OCTOBER 2014
10
To many of us, the seriousness and heartbreaking reality of Ebola may seem like a no-brainer. This terrible epidemic kills over half of those who come down with the disease in West Africa, and those who survive are often missing family members and friends. Already, 3,400 people have died from Ebola, and thousands more are estimated to die before the epidemic can be stopped.
Because my nonprofit works with a clinic in Sierra Leone, I’ve heard heartbreaking accounts of this tragedy firsthand. Nurses and doctors, their own young children and spouses, good friends, and many, many patients that they loved all have died after much suffering and pain.
So, what’s so funny? There has been a recent trend among privileged, American teens of making jokes using Ebola as the punch line. I’ve come across various posts in the past couple of weeks making light of Ebola through jokes with offensive statements, and some even go as far as to include racist undertones.
I was shocked and disgusted at these teens for making light of this horrible disease that destroys families and villages and kills both young and old. If these teens were forced to watch a younger sibling or parent wither away and die a painful death before their eyes, these jokes wouldn’t be funny. So why don’t they have the humanity and empathy to realize that these jokes are offensive to people who do have family members and friends dying?
WHY EBOLA ISN'T FUNNY
by Julia Myers