SftP Folks,

Here's another bit of critique on the Chimp-HIV connection. I will try
to get more critiques from African scientists whose opinions are rarely
heard? even among us progressives and radicals.

In Struggle,

Sam

----Original Message-----
From: Vukoni Lupa-Lasaga <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sunday, January 31, 1999 10:55 PM
Subject: Another racist HIV theory


Ndugu Campbell (of Syracuse University African Studies),

Happy New Year.

You've probably watched tonight's CNN report about African Chimps being
the origin of AIDS. My immediate reaction was: another racist hypothesis
jumping from probability to certitude without real scientific research.

The unsolicited reaction of a very respectable Ugandan surgeon confirmed
my opinion. This is what the doctor said: " the story that "scientists
have confirmed that the HIV virus came from chimps to humans" is not
supported by the evidence cited.  All that is reported is that a virus
has been found in a chimp that has lived in a lab for many years which
is similar to the HIV virus.  This is hardly news, many retroviruses
have been found in many species of mammals, and all are closely related.

The HIV virus itself has not been found to occur naturally in any wild
animal population. This is a good example of the huge amount of nonsense
that the HIV topic is capable of stimulating, both within the scientific
community and without.

Sam Kigongo"

Back home we call this kind of set-up "sticking goat's ears on someone's
head so that he may be eaten by a leopard". When it comes to Africa and
people of African origin, the so-called scientific establishment, or
international community can make outrageous claims and exceptions
(euphemism for abandonment).

There must be something we can do about this University of Alabama
researchers who are seeking cheap publicity by riding on our shoulders.
My purpose of writing this e-mail is to find out what and how. You know
the ropes here.

vukoni