Chris said:
This malaria thing? In another thread another poster (FireGuy) said the same thing, that malaria is more prevalent in areas where there are Haitians, by the fact that Haitians have more malaria?
Somehow, something in the reasoning sounds wrong in that statement. I cannot quite put my finger on it. Last I heard, female mosquitos suck the blood of mammals in order to lay eggs. So, in an area where there are many Haitians, can it not be said that there may be many animals as well? Rural and all that?
So, why are we highlighting more malaria in areas where there are more Haitian people? Should we not consider the mammals as well? or the standing water that gives a breeding ground for more mosquitos?
What is wrong with the reasoning in that darn statement 'cause something is wrong with it for sure?
Nals, you should caution people to be suspicious of areas with lots of standing water and lots of mammals as well. Not just Haitians.
I think its common knowledge that standing water breeds mosquitos, but mosquitos are not the creators of any mosquito transmitted disease.
Mosquito in themselves are nothing more than a neusance. They only become dangerous if they suck blood from a living thing that has a particular disease that the mosquito is prone to carry, but not get infected. Notice, malaria does absolutely nothing to the mosquito.
However, it's like I said on the previous response, show me the data that shows higher rates of malaria occurences in among Dominican population vs Haitian populations living here.
Show me data showing the differences between Haitians living in bateyes and Haitians living in Dominican urban centers.
All data shows higher percentage of infection of malaria among Haitian communities, more so than other communities. Why?
I don't know, but this is what the data shows!
I think the only thing that many folks here don't like is the fact that here is a Dominican saying something that could easily be taken as anti-Haitian, and since people look at Dominicans suspiciously, there must be something wrong in statements warning people of other people. Afterall, Hillbilly has also made similar statements like this before and he made a note of agreeing with what I have stated. Other non-Dominicans living here have made such statements as well, right here on DR1 and never has anyone ever said anything about the statement being bigoted and/or something wrong.
But again, show me the data that shows higher infection of malaria among Dominicans than Haitians. There are plenty of Dominicans who have domestic animals, live around standing water across the countryside. Why do Haitians have a higher incidence of malaria than Dominicans?
I'm not convinced that Dominicans may be immune to such disease, because that would be a racist misconception. But I do believe what the data shows, just how in the United States non-whites have a lower life expectancy than whites. Why is this the case, who knows? But that is what the data shows.
-NAL
BTW: I'm not blaming you or anything, neither am I calling you or suggesting that you may be an anti-Dominican. I have no reason to believe such thing, but I do notice different ways people in general accept similar comments from a Dominican vs a non-Dominican. This may be done unconsciously, but I do find this bothersome, particularly now that there is so much anti-Dominican crap being spread around the world.
I do find it bothersome that I have to constantly defend just about anything I say regarding Haitians, as oppose to other non-Dominican posters who make similar posts as I do and they are hardly, if ever questioned.