An Epidemic of Hostility

I’m a historian. Not a virologist. Not an epidemiologist. We don’t have any such experts, or any public health professionals, on our staff at the AHA. We therefore defer to medical experts on decisions relating to COVID-19 conditions. Perspectives on History editor Ashley E. Bowen’s column this month discusses our plans for returning to our office in September; these plans rely on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Washington, DC, health authorities. This issue also contains information about our annual meeting, to be held January 6–9, 2022, in New Orleans. Right now, we are planning to meet in person, but if or how we do so could evolve according to the CDC and local health authorities.

I have no problems deferring in this way. I respect the expertise of our colleagues in the health sciences. Especially in a public health emergency, the public good trumps the rights of individuals to do what they think is best for themselves as individuals. Everything has a history, including vaccine hesitancy, as my colleagues in the history of medicine remind me.

Today, for many in the United States, deference to experts represents a form of elitism, a trust in the judgment of institutions and individuals by dint of professional credentials and reputation. I am impatient with those who so readily refuse that deference, whether in the AHA’s Washington, DC, home; the city of New Orleans; or the state of Louisiana. As I write this in early August, 54.1 percent of Washington, DC, residents have taken the advice of medical professionals and been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. In Orleans Parish, the figure is 59.7 percent; in the state of Louisiana, a dismal 36.9 percent. Not surprisingly, we have had inquiries from members regarding the dangers of traveling to a state where many residents act as though they know more about a deadly virus than medical professionals. One Shreveport resident made it very clear to state health authorities at a city council meeting: “We should refuse to be tracked, discriminated against, bribed, controlled, threatened, shamed, or coerced into compliance.” She basked in the applause from her neighbors.

To a considerable extent, this is the result of the effective politicization of deeply rooted hostilities toward expertise and the education that produces it. Demonizing elites has a long and sordid tradition in politics; so do medical conspiracy theories. Here, COVID-19 and the attendant masking protocols, vaccines, and legitimately controversial school closures have been joined to partisan rhetoric about teachers indoctrinating white students to hate not only America but themselves and their families, along with a host of other conspiracy theories ranging from a supposedly stolen election to the absurdities of QAnon. In all these cases, experts from various ideological perspectives have pointed to professional consensus, whether among public health experts and virologists, historians of racism, or election referees.

Demonizing elites has a long and sordid tradition in politics; so do medical conspiracy theories.

We are looking at an epidemic of hostility toward expertise itself, drawing on a cynical language of antielitism to undermine public trust in the value and values of education, knowledge, and expertise as they apply to public culture and policy.

Legislators in more than half the states act as though they know more than historians who have devoted decades to research and teaching relating to the impact of racism on American institutions and culture. The AHA has had its share of “elitism” accusations for joining three other leading education organizations in opposing “legislative efforts [that] seek to substitute political mandates for the considered judgment of professional educators.” Yes, we do believe that “educators, not politicians, should make decisions about teaching and learning.” We expect the same respect that we offer to our colleagues in virology and epidemiology.

The AHA cannot force our neighbors at home or our hosts in Louisiana to follow the advice of medical experts and get vaccinated. But we will continue to track public health conditions in New Orleans and update our members as conditions evolve. Currently, conditions in New Orleans and CDC guidance are encouraging; in the state of Louisiana, not so much. We therefore have sent a letter to Governor John Bel Edwards, legislative leaders, public health officials, city government, and business organizations. The AHA is relying on the data and advice of public health experts, and we are asking Louisiana’s leadership to do the same.