An Epidemic of Fear Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

An Epidemic of Fear - Essay Example The impact of their study back then is worth nothing such that even today the immunization rates of measles, mumps and rubella have not been fully recovered. About the outbreak of epidemic emerging a year before Wakefield’s research was proven to be fraudulent, I feel that there was no connection between vaccines and autism in the first place. The research was highly plausible. In his article â€Å" An Epidemic of Fear†, Offit voiced out various risks. He never lobbied the Bush administration in its endeavors to implement a program that was aimed at giving smallpox vaccines to tens of thousands of Americans. He feared that implemented this program will kill people. According to him, the preventive vaccine was a bigger risk than the risk of chicken pox itself. It was the notion of risk in his mind that triggered the anti-vaccine movement. He felt that the parents should be given the option to opt out of such vaccines and be able to see for themselves if the movement would be risky for children or not. The idea was also embedded in CDC’s vaccination schedule- the overall risk to public health after such a move was too big to allow individuals or to give them the liberty to make decisions that will affect their communities. The risk is also one of the main motivating aspects of Offit’s life. He took the risk of giving his teen children the flu-vaccine even before it was recommended for children of their age group. The risk here for him was the harm inflicted on his children if they got sick. He wanted to protect his children at any risk and he also wanted Americans to be completely educated about risk and not automate their thinking mechanism. According to him â€Å" choice not to get a vaccine is not a choice to take no risk, It’s just a choice to take a different risk, and we need to be better about saying, ‘Here’s what that different risk looks like.’  

Malcolm X and the United States' Civil Right Movement Term Paper

Malcolm X and the United States' Civil Right Movement - Term Paper Example Malcolm is considered as of the greatest and most influential black American in the history of America. At the age of twenty, Malcolm X was imprisoned where he joined Nation of Islam. After his parole in the year 1952, Malcolm rose to be one of the leaders of the Nation Muslims. Several years afterwards, he became a controversial figure in the public domain. However, disillusionment with Nation of Muslims in the year 1964 made him leave the nation match the same year. Later in 1964, he founded the African American unity organization and the Muslim Mosque, Inc. Malcolm believed that one day America would change in the way the whites treated the blacks. During his leadership tenure in the Nation Islam, Malcolm as the organization’s spokesperson, preached or taught black American supremacy and advocated for separation between the white and the black Americans. However, in his teachings, Malcolm contrasted the principles of civil right movement that emphasized on integration among Americans. Since 1952 when he joined the Nation of Islam until 1964 when he left the organization, Malcolm promoted the teachings of the Nation Islam (Walsh7). In his teachings, he emphasized that blacks were the original people of the entire world, and the white race belonged to the devils. In almost all of his speeches, he emphasized that the blacks or the white people were inferior to the black people, and the demise of the white people was imminent(Levy 98). Malcolm X immensely advocated for a complete separation of the African American from the white Americans, despite The Civil Right Movement’s fight against racial segregation. Malcolm had proposed separation of the black Americans to their own country. He considered the move as an interim measure that should be taken against the white until they could return to Africa (Cone 1). In addition, he rejected the nonviolence strategy that has put in play by the civil right movement. Instead, he advocated for self-defense amo ng the African Americans, and asked, them to use any necessary means and measures that were within their reach (Levy 99). His speeches were highly influential especially among the African American audients who lived in the western and northern cities. Notably, these groups were tired of the empty promises. They were ever being told to wait for justice, respect, freedom, and equality (Walsh 9). Therefore, the majority of African Americans felt that Malcolm was articulating their complaints and grievances in a better way than the strategies and moves that were being taken by civil right movement. Many of the white Americans among other blacks were perplexed with Malcolm’s ideals as well as the things he was saying. The Nation of Islam and Malcolm were later described as black supremacists, hatemongers, violence seekers and they were as well considered a threat to race relation improvement. The Civil rights organization afterwards dismissed the Nation of Islam and Malcolm becaus e of being irresponsible extremists where were not concerned with the welfare of the African Americans. Furthermore, Malcolm was accused of anti-Semitism (Cone 1). On the other hand, Malcolm equally criticized the civil right movement and described its leadership as a â€Å"stooge† that has been established by the whites. He as well described Martin Luther King, Jr. as being a â€Å"chump†. Additionally, he was opposed with the march that took place in 1963 and termed it "the farce on Washington". Malcolm claimed that he did not know why the black America