Pablo Wolfe

Professor Edwards

Bio 248: Disease and Discrimination

Book Review: Blaming Others: Prejudice, Race and Worldwide AIDS

The desire to assign blame when confronted by a frustrating and seemingly unsolvable problem, a tendency shared by all mankind, serves as the focal point of Renee Sabatier’s probing examination of the universal fear, paranoia, and, at times, bigotry of the Western World’s reaction to the AIDS epidemic. Because of the taboo nature of the primary modes of transmission of the AIDS virus: the sharing of infected drug needles and, particularly, through sexual contact, people feel, often justly, that moral judgments are passed on them following the return of a positive AIDS test. Compounding the already strained relations between the healthy and the ill is the realization that not all races and ethnic groups are equally affected by this disease. Through numerous graphs and statistics, (though now outdated) Sabatier illustrates the concentration of the AIDS virus among third-world, particularly African, countries as well as the minority populations of Europe and the United States. The discovery of AIDS’ concentration among peoples of color (as well as homosexuals) led to their being dubbed "risk-groups," a term that suggests contagion occurs only in these people because of some innate lack, or worse, in some dirtiness that they share.

The scapegoating, stigmatization and persecution of those minorities seen as disease carriers creates a social barrier of mistrust that serves only to undermine AIDS education programs and research, allowing the disease a stronger grasp around all peoples. Sabatier breaks down the progression of the AIDS virus into three phases. The first is the infection of the HIV virus, a silent, usually unnoticed, invasion. The second, occurring years later in the invasion of AIDS itself. The third, and final, phase involves the social, cultural, economic and political reactions to the outbreak of the disease. Though he provides informative and important information concerning the science of the first and second phases, Sabatier’s primary focus is on the third, to which he devotes careful attention.

Blaming Others is a work aimed primarily at those interested in learning and understanding the perspectives of those minority groups who have been attributed much of the blame of our current AIDS epidemic. The book’s scope, however, is not so narrow that it limits its audience only to those with a sympathy for the afflicted. Renee Sabatier does an excellent job of creating an informative and powerful piece that remains, for the most part, non-judgmental and objective. Sabatier’s approach and writing style are such that the reader understands his own personal involvement in and responsibilities concerning, the AIDS epidemic. Blaming Others thus becomes an effort on the part of the author to overcome the snare of the third phase of the AIDS epidemic through education of all peoples. One quickly understands as he begins the book that Sabatier seeks not to argue a certain viewpoint but to present facts that give voice to those traditionally unrepresented. The book’s greatest strength then, becomes its emphasis on the reader formulating his own judgment. By remaining impartial, Sabatier eschews the pitfalls associated with the examination of delicate subject matter.

Overall, Blaming Others: Prejudice, Race and Worldwide AIDS, was very successful in providing an objective examination of the social response to those infected and those believed to be infected with the AIDS virus. Blaming Others serves as an eye-opening work, presenting a reality few wish to acknowledge. With his call for understanding and education, Sebatier creates a book that asks its readers to change the way in which we view the victims of AIDS and to dispel the culture of blame associated with the disease.