Over the past 40 years Blacks in America have made huge advances in many fields. I can certainly speak of some of the changes and some of the “same ole thing” that Black people encounter daily in the United States. Health care is one of those areas I must include in the “same ole thing” category, particularly the U.S. response to HIV/AIDS among Blacks.
The average American can relate to the devastating AIDS epidemic in Africa, but has no clue of the epidemic happening in the Black community enduring right here at home. America’s response to AIDS in Africa has been billions of dollars more than its response to its citizens at home.
The world has been very consumed with the devastation of AIDS in Africa. Great! However, there should be an out-cry that 5% of the population in Washington, DC is living with the AIDS virus; that’s 1 in 20 persons in our nation’s capital. And over 80% of these persons living with HIV in Washington, DC, are Black. In the state of Georgia 70% of persons living with HIV is Black.
The U.S. this year will once again deliver billions of dollars to 15 nations to address HIV prevention and treatment. Once again, GREAT! But sadly, the rate of HIV/AIDS in Black America ranks higher than seven of those foreign countries that will receive U.S. dollars in the coming months. The seven countries that have less of an HIV positive population than Black America are: Guyana, Rwanda, Haiti, Namibia, Vietnam, (yes we are sending money to Vietnam), Botswana, and Ethiopia.
Pernessa Seele, Founder/CEO of The Balm in Gilead, a non-profit organization which disseminates accurate information about AIDS said, “When I was a child in Lincolnville, South Carolina, with various illnesses, my mom and I sat in “colored only” hospital waiting rooms and had to enter the doctors’ offices through the back door in order to be seen. It did not matter what time we arrived - always early in the morning - or the nature of our medical distress, we would not be seen by the doctor or the medical staff at the hospital until every White person had been served that day. Waiting was the life of Black folks when I was a child, particularly in areas of health and medicine. Today, Black Americans are still waiting for adequate health care and an appropriate response to its suffering regarding HIV/AIDS. However, the waiting is much longer! The world is in front of us!! It appears that the U.S. Cavalry is not coming to save us.
We must depend on ourselves!
There is no excuse for the shocking numbers of infection we are seeing in the Black population. People need and should take personal responsibility. The answer to preventing AIDS for the most part is simple. Stop participating in unprotected sex with multiple partners and stop taking IV drugs. No one is going to protect us except ourselves. There is no way around this simple truth.
People can manage this problem only by changing their behavior. Stop doing things that will put you in danger of catching or spreading the disease. No one should have to pass a bill because we refuse to “do the right thing.” Anyone who expects the government to run our lives and take care of us from cradle to grave is in fact still slaves. True freedom comes with self-reliance and resourcefulness. Why would any truly proud Black person want to say that someone else solved their AIDS problem?
Look at the country of Uganda: from 1986 to 2000, the HIV rate dropped from 30 % to 6%. The government along with faith based organizations banded together to promote the ABC campaign. A-Abstinence, B-Be faithful, and (if these did not work), C-use Condoms. It worked because people took personal responsibility for their sexual behavior. The U.S. solution is ill advised, because condoms are pushed as its foundational cure, rather than changed behavior. Ugandan leaders are trying to persuade this country not to get too involved in their country, believing that the HIV/AIDS campaign has merely morphed into a condom promoting business, now more about money rather than focusing on people’s behavior.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Black America is very alarming and disgraceful at the same time. Black men and women must hold themselves accountable for reckless and yes sinful lifestyles that are putting our future in danger. Young Black women must start demanding respect and a commitment before they have sex. Bi-sexual Black men must stop lying and protect their women, and turn to God for complete deliverance. Sixty-six percent (66%) of Black women, ages 25-34, are infected with HIV/AIDS. And to add further future troubles 70% of Black children are born out of wedlock (that’s a whole other story in itself). Men on the “down low” account for a large part of the spread of the disease. They are being locked up for long periods of time, denied either female company, or condoms, having sex with men, then going back into the community and having sex with women. Who in turn have sex with other men, who have sex with other women.
This fight goes beyond personal responsibility. We need to bring our people along kicking and screaming. Just looking out for number one is why we have fallen victim to this. Men, get your boys to wear a condom, ladies get your girls to make their man to wear one. We are fighting for our future… We must educate to survive.
The information on how to prevent AIDS has been available for a very long time. Advertising prevention is on TV and in schools and in almost every doctor’s office. The government has done their job in the U.S. The public is informed. They can not force you to use a clean needle for drugs or wear a condom or stop indiscriminate sex. Ignorance is when you don’t know something. Stupid is when you know better and still do it. In Africa I’d chalk it up to ignorance and lack of protection. In the U.S. it’s pure stupidity.
