From your article: This number indicts us all. Every single one of us.

The majority is included, I would suppose in “us all.” Now, did I say white America? No. I choose my words carefully.

At some point HIV infection rates rest more upon an individual or group socialization conscience – and not the conscience of all of society.
If infection rates in a given state are higher than in others, there is some pause to consider whether the message is getting out there. But with the over saturation of information there is no longer a way to hide behind what tv station gets to what area. Which is why I used my library point. In urban areas there is more likely to be greater access to information than remote areas. So the alarming rates cannot be explained by no resources.
Henceforth, I un-indict myself.

In short, when gay people have bled, black people have largely remained silent (ignoring such luminaries as Coretta Scott King, who strongly supported equality for gay people); in return, as black people hurt, gay people’s sympathy is muted by the bruising they’ve taken at the hands of the black church.

In the meantime, black people themselves remain significantly silent about the disease in their own community; it’s still a taboo subject for many who are already burdened by historic socioeconomic disadvantage as well as lower rates of education and health literacy flowing from that history.

Both facts are sad, and will take change on the parts of both communities. Caught in the middle of this are man-loving black men, who often refuse to identify as gay because of the homophobia within their own communities which has caused them to devalue themselves and risk their health and that of others. When external to one’s community, one is devalued for his race, and then internally in one’s community, he’s devalued for his sexual orientation, he is taught everywhere that he is worth less.

All of the above is sad. HIV is a social justice disease…man-loving black men live that reality.

You been paying attention? You sure?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-10-07-AIDS-meeting_N.htm

I am not for a moment discounting the (obvious) racism that runs through our society. But I do not believe that is the reason for our ignoring the Darfur issue. If Darfur supplied us with OIL, we would have been all over that problem years ago.

Two things: 1) “bareback culture” isn’t the monopoly of gay black men as you point out, and 2) can you point to a line in the post where I blamed “the majority.”

Thanks
James

…This is an indictment of the black community for somehow escaping a global educational campaign.

I don’t know why.

At some point, it’s not the greater community to blame for something that has been blogged, reported on, and broadcast on race neutral tv shows and advertisements that anyone with access to something as simple as a public library should know about.

At what point does cultural responsibility lie with the individual families and neighborhoods? Or the person?

Barring an allegation that somehow the greater community managed to put some kind of censorship on any possible way anyone in the black community could have even heard about AIDS, its defenses, and its effects – not sure what else you expect?

Could it be as simple as that as it becomes more “mainstream” within the black community to accept man on man sex, guys (not black guys but guys) want to have more gay/bi sex?

Couple that with the explosion among guys of all races to embrace the “bareback” culture could be the reason for the rise?

That more black men are comfortable having sex with men, but are caught up in the bareback culture?

Shouldn’t the focus be on the “bareback” culture instead of blaming “the majority” for not caring about black HIV rates?