From: weemba@sagi.wistar.upenn.edu (Matthew P Wiener)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african.american
Subject: Re: Mweene Islands vs. Normal Islands
Date: 14 Dec 92 19:03:24 GMT
Reply-To: weemba@sagi.wistar.upenn.edu (Matthew P Wiener)
Organization: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology
In-reply-to: M.Titahmboh@lut.ac.uk (Mana TitahMboh)

In article <1992Dec14.122306.22534@lut.ac.uk>, M.Titahmboh@lut (Mana TitahMboh) writes:
>|> The Lemba people in South Africa were isolated from others in the sense
>|> of no intermarriage until the past generation or two.  There are others,
>|> but none that I know without looking up the names.

>This does not make them a "social island" and anyway, this sort of "isolation"
>is quite common even in america (the US) when you think about it.

Exactly!  That's what I've been trying to say along.  Mr Mweene introduced
the word "island" out of the blue, and it's been confusing ever since.

>                Also, this issue of "social islands " has been taken
>way out of context. As I remember, the implication was that AIDS
>thrived in these "islands" - or at least that they didn't help in
>preventing its spread.

My point is that is not contradictory to claim that HIV was very rare in
the fifties and sixties and that it then exploded in the seventies.  The
first idea that fits this is monkey -> isolated people.  It is probably
not the correct resolution.

>		         You [not you personally matthew] might even
>argue that being isolated, these "islanders" can be presumed not to
>have been promiscuous and, therefore, could not have worsened the
>spread of aids. After all, isn't promiscuity perceived as a key
>aggravating factor in the spread of the desease?

That's part of it.  Note that `promiscuity' is definitely a loaded word,
and it assumes Western mainstream heterosexuality as a standard of proper
activity--polygamy is common in Africa.

HIV probably started its explosive spread from many of several factors.
A rise in STDs imported from Europe would have made the virus easier to
transmit sexually.  A rise in blood transfusions (for anemia, malaria,
etc) would have given the virus a kickstart.  Convenient transportation
is probably a major factor in the later explosion--HIV-1 is clustered
along the routes from Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.  I haven't looked up
the details of the WHO smallpox vaccination campaign, and in particular,
whether there was a potential problem with shared needles.

I've been rereading Randy Shilts AND THE BAND PLAYED ON, and he tells us
that one of the first European cases was a Portuguese sailor/driver who
had been in Angola during the war.  I had mentioned Zaire -> Cuba as a
possibility, and this led Mr Mweeme, to misremember his history of the
region.  Not only had Zaire been involved in backing one of the Angolan
factions, Angola at one point had invaded southern Zaire.  As long as
Cuba keeps its records shut to the outside world, my idea will remain
unverifiable.  One other likely route from Africa to America turns out
to have been the American Bicentennial of all things.  _ALL_ the initial
American cases in the 80s turned out had been in NYC (together) for the
Tall Ships 4 July celebration, along with sailors from fiftysome countries.

He mentions another minor detail that accords with an African origin.
HTLV-1 is found in a very limited location--those parts of Japan that
had been visited by Portuguese explorers from Africa many centuries ago.

>Were you the one who first used this "social islands" concept?

I used it in contradistinction to "geographical islands".
-- 
-Matthew P Wiener (weemba@sagi.wistar.upenn.edu)