THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VI, Issue # 165, July 25, 2004
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
CORE'S NIGER INNIS ON THE AIDS EPIDEMIC &
THE POLITICS OF "ECO-ENVIRONMENTALISM":
AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
By Alan Caruba
FULL STORY:
Niger Innis, the energetic son of Roy Innis, the founder of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), is the spokesman for the
organization that, over the past sixty-three years, has broadened its mandate from ending racial segregation to embracing many
international problems, not the least of which is the spread of AIDS in Third World nations and the efforts of political
environmentalists to keep these nations from successfully developing their economies through modernization and from
protecting the health of their citizens through use of modern technology.
Innis was in Reno, Nevada, to participate in the Fifth Annual Freedom21 Conference, held July 21-24, 2004. The Conference was
sponsored by a number of activist organizations concerned about issues that include property rights, the United Nations, national
sovereignty, and rights protected by the United States Constitution.
In an exclusive interview, Innis pointed out that AIDS “has captured the attention of the international community because it has
tragically infected millions of people in the developed world,” but “its worst effect [has been] on the continent of Africa.” Less
noted, said Innis, are comparable epidemics of tuberculosis and malaria. “These and other diseases are crippling the
developing world.”
“Millions of Africans and others die needlessly every year due to the United Nations’ ban on DDT,” said Innis, “and this is the
direct result of eco-imperialism that seeks to deter the advances of modern technology from benefiting people in underdeveloped
nations.”
Innis cited a UN Conference in which introducing modern toilets to African communities was protested as harmful to the
environment.
Innis said CORE is supporting the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and praised President Bush’s call for a
$15 billion investment in efforts to reduce AIDS in Africa and other Third World nations. “It took political courage to get that
program passed in a Conservative Congress,” said Innis. He noted that people in 14 developing nations are already receiving help
and treatment as a result.
It was Roy Innis who, in the early 1980s, made efforts to communicate the danger of the growing AIDS threat. “Not many leaders
heeded the call,” said Niger Innis, but among those that did was the man who would become President of Uganda, Yoweri K.
Musevani, whose program there has dramatically rolled back the rates of AIDS in that nation. The ABC program calls for people
to “Abstain,” to “Be faithful” in marriage, and “use a Condom.” At a recent international conference on AIDS which Niger Innis
attended, “this approach was actually booed, despite its record of success.” He noted, too, that the U.S. representative was
poorly received, “despite the huge commitment of billions of U.S. dollars to reduce the AIDS threat.”
“Unfortunately, elites within the international community and the developed world often promote nostalgia for primitive life in the
developing world,” said Innis, “In doing so, they stifle development for reasons that have more to do with politics and ideology
within the developed world, as opposed to progress for the developing world.
“These ideologies frequently have little to do with addressing the real needs of those suffering in the undeveloped world,” said
Innis.
On August 7, 2004, CORE will sponsor a Health Awareness Festival in New York City’s Times Square, and Innis anticipates that
between a half million and a million people will participate in the event.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Science, Ethics, & Human Health
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, Communications Director of the American Policy Center,
and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly
column, "Warning Signs," posted on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center
(www.anxietycenter.com). A compilation of his past columns, entitled Warning Signs, is published by Merril Press. In addition
to Warning Signs, Caruba is the author of A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam and The United Nations vs. the United States,
both of which are available from the National Anxiety Center, 9 Brookside Road, Maplewood, New Jersey, 07040.
Copyright 2004 Alan Caruba
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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