Ousmane Dramé with his two sons at the press conference
By Isseu Diouf CampbellOn October 24, 2014 two Senegalese brothers were brutally beaten at I.S. 318 Elementary School in the Bronx while the perpetrators shouted “Ebola”. This incident, many fear, is just the tip of the iceberg.
At a press conference held yesterday October 27, 2014, and hosted by the Senegalese Association, Ousmane Dramé, the father of the two children explained that the bullying started way before Friday.
“They were fine during the first three days of school. After that, the kids started calling them “Ebola”. Then Friday’s incident happened. They were beaten and I had to take them to the hospital. A group of kids attacked the younger brother Amadou, and when he started screaming, his older brother Pape came to his rescue. The kids jumped on him as well.”
Amadou and Pape Dramé weren’t the only children in the Senegalese community that were targeted, and Senator Bill Perkins who was present at the press gathering didn’t fail to mention it.
“The Ebola crisis has evolved from a health crisis to a stigmatization crisis and a bullying crisis in our schools. “
“Because of this association (ASA) and the leadership in this community, this situation is being brought to your attention. Think of the fact that there are many more cases like this taking place that are not coming to our attention,” Perkins stated.
Nine year-old Souadou, another student who was born and raised in America has also been victimized at school. She wakes up every morning asking her mother if she has Ebola.
“My daughter keeps telling me ‘Mommy I don’t want to die of Ebola” and I tell her “ you don’t have Ebola,” Sokhna Seye explained.
“The school system needs to teach kids what Ebola is. Ebola is not something funny or something that people choose to have.”
And when Mrs. Seye contacted her daughter’s school, Dream Charter School, insisting on the need to educate parents about Ebola, the school’s response was that they could not do that.
New Yorkers are afraid and fear coupled with ignorance has resulted in acts of violence and discrimination that many members of the community find very disturbing.
“Ebola happened in Africa and they should not look at Africans here as people who bring Ebola to this country. The victims of Ebola need care and assistance,” said Pape Dramé, the president of the Senegalese Association.
Charles Cooper, chairman of the African Advisory Council of the Bronx doesn’t understand how this type of incident would be allowed to occur.
“These children are supposed to be in school and they are supposed to be safe. I accompanied Ousmane to school to talk to the administrators. It was very unfortunate because they didn’t know much. They thought this incident only happened to only one of the brothers. This should not happen in this day and age. We don’t need any hate crime in our community,’ Cooper declared.
The ignorance around Ebola is affecting Sokhna Seye both at home and at work. At home she has to comfort and reassure her daughter that she doesn’t have Ebola despite what she hears at school. At work, the fear of Ebola is threatening her livelihood.
“I had this past Saturday a customer coming from Connecticut to get her hair done. I have been doing her hair for a long time so she knows me. She told me that when she was on her way to the salon one of her friend told her not to go to an African Hair Salon to get her hair done because she would catch Ebola there.”
Congressman Serrano who hopes that New Yorkers will change their behavior promised to continue the fight when Congress reopens.
“In the meantime, we can’t allow bullying. We can’t allow stigmatization,” Serrano stressed.
He didn’t leave without giving a piece of advice to the media.
“With respect to the media, don’t always when you hear about a situation look for broken bones or attacks or marks on a child. Look for the fact that when you are discriminated against, there is an emotional effect on you. There is an emotional effect not only on the children but on the whole community.”
