A Brief History of Infectious Disease, Disability and Racial Conceptions of ‘Healthy Citizens’

This presentation will provide an overview of how xenophobia and ableism has historically been a part of responses to outbreaks of infectious diseases in western society. From Christians scapegoating Jews and people with leprosy during medieval plagues to white people blaming east Asians during epidemics/pandemics in more recent times, this presentation will provide a brief summary of how racist and ableist concepts of “healthy citizens” has a long and dubious history in which the most privileged in society sought to cast out those with the least power based on conceptions of race, ethnicity, disability and class. There will also be reference to how some people have resisted these attacks and sought to re-orient the focus away from targeting marginalized populations.