Drawing Ties....
Since he announced that he was diagnosed with HIV in 1991, Magic Johnson has greatly changed how the disease has been perceived. Being a very influential, well-respected, and a well-loved sports hero to many fans, his announcement shook the public's opinion about AIDS being a homosexual disease. Ultimately, Johnson becomes the new face for AIDS as well as the new spokesperson for the AIDS community.
Johnson has since been advocating for more AIDS awareness, more free testing and treatment of the disease, and for more preventative action. His desires to achieve such goals are reflected in his decision to join the National Commission of AIDS the same year he made his announcement; however, his political involvement was kept short as he resigned from his position the following year (Nadel, "'Magic' Johnson Resigns from National AIDS Commission"). His reasons for doing so resulted from the lack of government involvement and unfulfilled promises to address the issues of HIV/AIDS. (Nadel, "'Magic' Johnson Resigns from National AIDS Commission"). Comparisons that relate to the lack of political intervention can also be drawn from the Chinese's dissatisfaction against the government when the Bubonic plague struck San Francisco Chinatown during the 1890s. Similar to Johnson, Consul General Ho Yow served as a leading figurehead for the Chinese immigrants during the epidemic. In discovering that the mandatory vaccine issued by health officials could potentially lead people to contracting the plague, Yow appealed to them and the Chinese minister to stop the vaccination from taking place within the Chinese immigrant community (Markel, 72). However, both ignored his plea and what resulted was "civil unrest in Chinatown [that] erupted daily" (Markel, 72) In both cases, a sense of detachment from the at risk group and political authorities are depicted. Although Johnson and Yow were voicing the concerns of their constituents, the government remained inactive in responding to their needs. These cases bring up issues that discuss the role of the government and whether there are justifications for the government and health authorities to act on their own beliefs, disregarding the appeals from these groups, in contrast to whether the government should act in the interest of these communities.
Another parallel to Magic Johnson's breakthrough to the public was the Tuskegee syphilis study. During the Tuskegee syphilis study in 1932-1972, government doctors thought that they could help treat the “bad blood” that black men and women possessed. Doctors also believed that syphilis manifested itself differently in blacks as opposed to whites, and that black people had to be treated in order to save the white people from contracting syphilis. The men and women of the study were not given any treatment so that doctors could see how the disease progressed (Jones, 16-17). When Magic Johnson announced that he had HIV, people changed their perception of AIDS. Many people thought that AIDS only infected gay men and women and drug users, and the straight population was not affected at all, just like the white doctors during the study thought syphilis infected white people differently. At this time, just because blacks were different than whites meant that they were inferior, and in the same way, those that carried HIV were considered inferior from everyone else. Immediately following Johnson's announcement, people began to see the face of HIV/AIDS in a different light. Rather than ignoring the disease, it began to receive recognition and funding. People began to see that anyone was at risk of getting the virus, no matter what their race, sexual orientation, or gender was. It took a prominent figure like Johnson to represent the AIDS community and help the world understand the disease. Without Johnson, the world would have probably been stuck on their prejudices and unfounded fears for too long.
Johnson has since been advocating for more AIDS awareness, more free testing and treatment of the disease, and for more preventative action. His desires to achieve such goals are reflected in his decision to join the National Commission of AIDS the same year he made his announcement; however, his political involvement was kept short as he resigned from his position the following year (Nadel, "'Magic' Johnson Resigns from National AIDS Commission"). His reasons for doing so resulted from the lack of government involvement and unfulfilled promises to address the issues of HIV/AIDS. (Nadel, "'Magic' Johnson Resigns from National AIDS Commission"). Comparisons that relate to the lack of political intervention can also be drawn from the Chinese's dissatisfaction against the government when the Bubonic plague struck San Francisco Chinatown during the 1890s. Similar to Johnson, Consul General Ho Yow served as a leading figurehead for the Chinese immigrants during the epidemic. In discovering that the mandatory vaccine issued by health officials could potentially lead people to contracting the plague, Yow appealed to them and the Chinese minister to stop the vaccination from taking place within the Chinese immigrant community (Markel, 72). However, both ignored his plea and what resulted was "civil unrest in Chinatown [that] erupted daily" (Markel, 72) In both cases, a sense of detachment from the at risk group and political authorities are depicted. Although Johnson and Yow were voicing the concerns of their constituents, the government remained inactive in responding to their needs. These cases bring up issues that discuss the role of the government and whether there are justifications for the government and health authorities to act on their own beliefs, disregarding the appeals from these groups, in contrast to whether the government should act in the interest of these communities.
Another parallel to Magic Johnson's breakthrough to the public was the Tuskegee syphilis study. During the Tuskegee syphilis study in 1932-1972, government doctors thought that they could help treat the “bad blood” that black men and women possessed. Doctors also believed that syphilis manifested itself differently in blacks as opposed to whites, and that black people had to be treated in order to save the white people from contracting syphilis. The men and women of the study were not given any treatment so that doctors could see how the disease progressed (Jones, 16-17). When Magic Johnson announced that he had HIV, people changed their perception of AIDS. Many people thought that AIDS only infected gay men and women and drug users, and the straight population was not affected at all, just like the white doctors during the study thought syphilis infected white people differently. At this time, just because blacks were different than whites meant that they were inferior, and in the same way, those that carried HIV were considered inferior from everyone else. Immediately following Johnson's announcement, people began to see the face of HIV/AIDS in a different light. Rather than ignoring the disease, it began to receive recognition and funding. People began to see that anyone was at risk of getting the virus, no matter what their race, sexual orientation, or gender was. It took a prominent figure like Johnson to represent the AIDS community and help the world understand the disease. Without Johnson, the world would have probably been stuck on their prejudices and unfounded fears for too long.