My irritation and “AAIT”
I received a comment yesterday asking me what the best sunscreen to use to prevent “African American Incidental (UV) Transference.” There is no such syndrome, and frankly I’m offended that someone is trying to use this blog to push their racist agenda.
The few sites that mention this completely illogical imaginary problem claim that the leading cause of skin cancer is UV radiation that comes off African American skin while indoors. Even more outrageously, it apparently specifically targets white skin. I found about 10 links referring to it. The majority of these were references on blogs and forums, where all of the writers suspiciously used almost the exact same wording, which leads me to believe they were written by the same person in an effort to further this idiotic idea. The one site that claims to be the origin of this information is supposedly written by a dermatologist who “disavowed his oath” to bring this information to the public. It’s another wordpress blog that contains only two posts and absolutely no scientific explanation as to how this mysterious illness works.
It is not real. It doesn’t even scientifically make sense. Humans do not store UV rays in their original form in order to release them later on. The body converts UV light to vitamin D. They can’t magically convert it back and start shooting UV rays at their coworkers like some kind of biological death ray. This is some idiot’s attempt at trying to manufacture a medical reason to be racist.
I’ll quote Zen Curmudgeon over at the Chieftain Daily forums:
There’s no ICD-9-CM code for it and the American Academy of Dermatology hasn’t heard of it, either. A google on the term produces a few hits, all on non-medical sites and all having remarkably similar language, likely taken from an overtly racist blog started last month and purportedly written by a dermatologist named “Dr. Mark Skinner”. (The AAD hasn’t heard of him either.)
I will not pander to this nonsense. Comments referring to overtly offensive and blatently fake issues like this will be deleted from this point on. Anyone who believes this crap is either the most gullible person I’ve ever met, or they are racist and looking for an excuse to remain so. Please take it somewhere else.
nisa sloan said,
August 2, 2007 at 9:26 am
Thanks for doing that. We have a very misguided individual here who has swallowed this hook line and sinker or and is lighting up the WTVD.com message board (one of our news affiliates here in Raleigh, NC) with this swill. It’s laughable that someone would believe it but he does whole heartedly. But on the other hand it’s sad that someone would so vehemently be willing to put himself out there to defend this and stand up to the ridicule of everyone in this area. He’s been on about this for at least half of the month of July.
Once again, thanks!
AZ Dana’s Wonderful & Wacky Weblog » African American Incidental UV Transference (AAIT): mean and ugly racism said,
August 7, 2007 at 6:17 pm
[...] is trying to use the internet to spread hatred and dissension. Instead, I’d rather link to an excellent site that proves that exposure to Blacks in the work place or anywhere else for that matter does NOT [...]