Quote:
Originally Posted by Senusret I
And it was rife with ignorance and homophobia.... I'm not "starting" with you, so please don't expect me to NOT comment when someone says something that's pretty stupid.
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Senusret, everyone is not perfect and thus some speak first and think last. She may not have said it politically correct, but she started what could be a good discussion. Let's discuss shall we?
The stats from the CDC shows that among new HIV cases, almost half (49%) of the new cases are AA. How we deny that HIV is a big problem for our community is beyond me. I know for me, I have had countless discussions about this with fam, friends, and even strangers and most AA seem to think that the CDC is simply trying to scare us, that HIV is not as big a problem in our community as the CDC stats show.
HIV stats show that among AA males, the most common way of contracting HIV was from male to male sexual contact with an infected male. The second most common way for males to contract HIV was from sharing needles. The third most common way for a male to contract HIV was from sexual contact with an infected female.
For AA women, the most common way for women to contract HIV was from having sexual contact with an infected male. The second most common way for women to contract HIV is from sharing needles.
Stats for AA HIV case are the following as of Dec. 2006: male to male sexual contact make up 44% of HIV cases for AA males; drug needles make up 17% of HIV cases for AA males; Female to male sexual contact make up 78% of HIV cases for AA females; drug needles make up 20% of HIV cases for AA females.
The rate of HIV diagnoses was 7 times higher in AA males that white males and 21 times higher in AA females than white females.
A recent study suggest that the reason behind the disproportionately higher HIV rates amongst AA is the higher rates of male incarceration. Its an ongoing study, no definitive data yet.
For me, the data suggest that this is an ignorance problem. AA females are getting HIV at a higher rate through sex with males. I am really interested to see if there is something to this male incarceration theory. It would make sense because prisoners are not required to take HIV test while incarcerated. The women who are waiting for these men to be released from prison need to have them tested before resuming sexual relations with them. I actually know of 2 women who are now HIV positive because they had unprotected sex with males who were incarcerated. The point is that we as a people need to act responsibly and stop living in denial. We are responsible for our own bodies and need to put our safety first period. We say that in this day and age that people are informed but is that really the case? How many of us really teach our children and talk to them about sex and HIV? This is a generalization, but the black community tends to be conservative on issues such as premarital sex and so most church going parents are preaching abstinence when in reality they should preach responsibility along with the abstinence speech.
), but EVERYONE from black gay men to white lesbians can spread AIDS.
at the CDC singling out Black men in ATL. But considering the demographics, I suppose it can become a pandemic in the Black community there.
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