Kofi Anokye

COMM_2102_31

February 22, 2022

Liberian Stereotype: Ebola

Since the outbreak of the Ebola virus, a cast of fear has been brought onto the country (at

the time). People were afraid and were also quick to point fingers due to not understanding the

situation in full.. A certain stereotype based around an African region, in this case Liberians,

started to come forth, particularly being that they were riddled with diseases and would quickly

infect others. It got to the point that TV host Shoana Clarke Solomon came forth with her video

titled “I am Liberian, Not a Virus”, explaining how wrong it is to stereotype an entire region

and the negative effect it has on them. “Imagine someone saying to your child ‘you’re from

Liberia so you have a disease.’ It happened yesterday to my daughter at school. My child came

home hurt and upset.” “We live in a region that has been devastated by a deadly disease but

we’re not all infected. It is wrong to stereotype and stigmatize an entire people.” (Solomon)

Solomon and her daughter moved to the U.S months before and not undergoing any tests. Her

sister’s daughter, in the U.S. was asked not to send her daughter to school after sneezing a few

times, despite the fact the she hadn’t been to Liberia. Following the video’s release and viral

recognition, a lot of Liberians started to post pictures of themselves holding a sign with the

message “I am Liberian, Not a Virus.”, coming in full support of eradicating a harmful/racist

stereotype based on blatant ignorance.

Solomon, S. C. (2014). YouTube. Retrieved February 19, 2022, from

https://youtu.be/UEs8xHgBq7g.
'I am Liberian, not a virus': A campaign against ebola stereotyping and prejucide. The

News Minute. (2015, March 21). Retrieved February 21, 2022, from

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/i-am-liberian-not-virus-campaign-against-ebola-st

ereotyping-and-prejucide-26661