Pubdate: Sat, 19 Aug 2006
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Section: Health
Copyright: 2006 The Miami Herald
Contact:  http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/262
Author: Julian Bond

  BLACK AMERICA MUST CONFRONT AIDS

It has been 25 years since we first learned of a disease that was 
killing a handful of white, gay men in a few of our nation's largest 
cities -- a disease that later became known as AIDS. But lulled by 
media images that portrayed AIDS mainly as a white, gay disease, we 
looked the other way: Those people weren't our people. AIDS was not 
our problem. It had not entered our house.

We had our own problems to deal with, so we let those people deal 
with their problem. But that was a quarter-century ago, and a lot has 
changed. Now, in 2006, almost 40 million people worldwide have HIV, 
and 25 million are dead. And most of those who have died and are 
dying are black. That's not just because of the devastation the 
pandemic has wreaked upon Africa.

The face of AIDS in the United States is primarily black as well. The 
majority of new HIV infections here are black, the majority of people 
who die from AIDS here are black and the people most at risk of 
contracting this virus in the United States are black. AIDS is now in 
our house. It's now our problem, and we must come up with solutions.

This week, a historic contingent of black leaders will attend the 
16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto to put AIDS in our 
community at the top of the national agenda. All of black America 
must do the same. Every African-American must stand with us, take 
ownership of AIDS and fight this epidemic with every resource we have.

I realize that what we are proposing may seem an overwhelming task. 
But we know it can be done. When AIDS hit the gay community, its 
members couldn't afford to wait for the government to save them; 
instead they worked to save themselves -- in part by using tactics 
and strategies out of our civil-rights playbook. AIDS is a major 
civil-rights issue of our time.

We cannot wait for the government to come and rescue us either -- 
that help may never come. Part of our response must be to eliminate 
the rabid homophobia that lives in our schools, our homes and 
especially our churches. Our inability to talk about sex, and more 
specifically homosexuality, is the single greatest barrier to the 
prevention of HIV transmission in our community. Intolerance has 
driven our gay friends and neighbors into the shadows. Men leading 
double lives -- on the "down low" -- put our women at extreme risk.

We must also overcome our resistance to safer sex practices that can 
help prevent the spread of AIDS, and we must ensure that our young 
people know exactly what AIDS is and how to protect themselves against it.

For black America, the time to deliver is now:

Leaders must lead. The AIDS story in the United States is partly one 
of a failure to lead. Prominent blacks -- from traditional ministers 
and civil rights leaders to hip-hop artists and Hollywood celebrities 
- -- must immediately join this national call to action to end the AIDS 
epidemic in black America.

We must build a new sense of urgency in black America, so that no one 
accepts the idea that the presence of HIV and AIDS is inevitable.

Black America must get informed about the science and facts about 
AIDS. Knowledge is a powerful weapon in this war.

Black Americans must get screened and find out their HIV status. I 
have -- it took 20 minutes and was bloodless and painless. Knowing 
your HIV status and the status of your partner can save your life.

We're calling for a massive effort to address the disproportionate 
impact this epidemic is having on black youth, women, injecting drug 
users and men who have sex with men.

We must pressure our government and elected officials -- at local, 
state and national levels -- to be far more responsible partners than 
they have been. We must lift the federal ban on funding for 
needle-exchange programs, which have been proven to slow the spread 
of AIDS. We must also work with elected officials to promote 
comprehensive, age-appropriate, culturally competent AIDS prevention 
efforts that give young people the tools they need to protect themselves.

We must heed Martin Luther King Jr.'s warning, originally meant for 
others but right for us now: "Nothing in the world is more dangerous 
than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

Julian Bond is a professor at American University and the University 
of Virginia and chairman of the board of the NAACP.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman