The moment that Idris Elba, a phenomenal actor I was initially introduced to as Stringer Bell on The Wire, was afflicted with the Coronavirus (Covid-19), my mind immediately reverted to Marcus Mosiah Garvey’s most poignant observations revealed about his prodigious travels abroad. According to the famed Pan-Africanist,

I don’t care where you go or what type of society you view. Our people are always the least educated, the poorest, own the least amount of land, and die the soonest.

When it became clear that the Coronavirus was going to have an unprecedented impact on this nation, I feared that Black America would receive at least a double-portion of the pain and misery flowing from this unexpected intruder.

My fears are buoyed by the information presented by medical professionals that the chronic medical issues affecting Black America lessen its chances of surviving Covid-19. Additionally, the members of our community are the most likely to be uninsured or possess the multiple variables needed to “shelter in place” for a significant period. I am saddened to write that it appears that Black Americans are perfectly positioned to receive a heaping portion of the negativity promised by the Coronavirus.   

Reasonable-minded African-Americans understand that Blacks are no different from other American populations in that we were devoid of a reliable defense against the looming pandemic. Unfortunately for reasonable-minded Blacks, their grounded understanding of such matters neither removed nor muted the ascension of a cadre of boastful, loud-mouth, and ill-informed Negroes who continued a well-worn pattern of propagating dim-witted statements that comfortably pass the threshold of outlandish conspiracy theories. Not even the following statement by Idris Elba served as a sufficient deterrent to the hair-brained conspiracy theories of a rambunctious few. According to Elba,

Black people, please, please, please understand that coronavirus, you can get it. There are so many stupid, ridiculous conspiracy theories about black people not being able to get it. That’s dumb, stupid. All right? That is the quickest way to get more black people killed.”

I intuitively realized that not even the pleadings of Stringer Bell were sufficient to beat back the tide of conspiracy theories whose replication mirrored that of Covid-19.

While Black medical professionals issued repeated warnings to our community, conspiracy theorists countered scientific advice via the internet to a frightened and unknowing community. A familiar refrain that authoritatively stated that Blacks could not contract Covid-19 due to melanin or a litany of other racial signifiers. Such advice worsened the survival chances of a community marred by a host of issues ranging from compromised housing, marginal economic status, and the usual challenges inextricably linked to Black socioeconomic marginality.

Instead of working to provide life-saving information to a frightened Black populace, the conspiracy theorists in our midst grasped for a few fleeting moments of semi-importance. It seems that every tragedy that befalls Black America is considered an opportunity by the least of us to stoke the embers of confusion and darkness. In many ways, it is inexcusable that at the very moment where light is desperately needed, conspiracy theorists flood our community with darkness. The time has come for conspiracy theorists to abandon ridiculous constructs and intricate lies that make them little more than conmen seeking to not only exploit others but also muting the voices of medical professionals who hold the keys to lessening the portion of misery and suffering befalling Black America.

I am sure that you are much like me in that I have had my fill of unnecessary pain, misery, and suffering. It is time that the conspiracy theorists in our midst are shunned and silenced “by any means necessary.”  

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture 2020.

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