EBOLA HAS ACCOMPLISHED WHAT TERRORISTS COULDN'T

Hate is the consequence of fear; we fear something before we hate it; a child who fears noises becomes a man who hates noise. 

Cyril Connolly

Rod Serling, the creator of the television series, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, wrote a classic episode that foretold what could come, arguably has come, to pass: "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street (1960)." The essence of the story (SPOILER ALERT) is that after a power outage and strange phenomena, adults begin to believe a child's story about aliens causing these disturbing events and that the invaders disguise themselves as humans. Distrust sets in and neighbor begins to distrust neighbor, all the while real aliens are watching and waiting for humans to destroy one another, making it easier for the aliens to invade.

This frightening episode, like the quote above, provoked fear in me, but not what you might expect. I never worried about alien invasions. I actually thought the idea of extraterrestrial life landing on earth intriguing. No, what frightened me as a child and now angers me as an adult is human beings quickness to react, judge and then hate without rationale thought. It's as if homo sapiens return to their basest animal, predatory instincts to attack before thinking.

Since 9/11, we've seen examples of blatant discrimination and even deadly acts against Muslim-Americans in the U.S. I have to admit that when I sat on a PATH train to go to Hoboken, one year after 9/11, I saw a woman clothed in the traditional black hijab, and robes, carrying a briefcase as she waited for another train. For a moment, my anxiety kicked in until I studied her face and saw the weariness of a long day's work. Then, I felt ashamed for being apprehensive.

As analysts have discussed, instilling paranoia and uncontrolled fear into American psyche would have been the ultimate victory of terrorists, but overall, the attackers didn't succeed. Yes, security has stepped up considerably and individual rights have been curbed, especially during the Bush era. However, anxiety has rarely led to the panic I observed in the old TWILIGHT ZONE episode.

That is until Ebola arrived on our shores. Incidents of people, in Texas e.g., avoiding any African-American dressed in traditional African dress, have been reported. Students whose home country is Nigeria, for example, who have lived in Ebola-free countries for an extended period have supposedly been rejected by a Texas college. Cruise lines are banning anyone from affected countries in West Africa from boarding their ships. This last decision may be practical, but I wonder how much further the isolation of not only immigrants but citizens of color will become the norm: ostracized because of irrational fear.

According to multiple doctors in the U.S., the flu will kill more Americans this year than any communicable disease, the least being Ebola, which can only be caught by direct contact with the infected person's body fluids. In contrast, the entero virus has killed dozens of children across the country, yet there's little palpable anxiety among parents and more so the media about the quick-spreading illness. Many of us have already heard via social media the rash statements made by news media analysts, correspondents and pundits about Ebola.

Yes, there have been mistakes, the worst being not controlling the disease in West Africa when it first began to explode. Who's to blame? That's not my point. And, focusing on pointing fingers won't help control the hysteria and stop the disease. What will is individuals throughout our country being watchful but not reactionary. For if a national panic begins to spread like an uncontrollable wildfire, our "enemies" who are watching will be more than happy to take advantage.

Fear leads to hate. Panic causes untethered, reactive behavior. Among those who carry guns into restaurants and department stores in at least one state, some may shoot first. After all, fear and hate already go hand-in-hand when some law enforcement officers and neighborhood vigilantes see people of color.

And as seen in Rod Serling's brilliant commentary on society, "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," the monsters are not the aliens. They are the humans.