HIV and AIDS: The “Silent” Killer in Our Community

By Talbert W. Swan, II

Last month we recognized National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on February 7, 2007. The day comes at the beginning of Black History Month, a month in which we are supposed to be celebrating triumphs and not focusing on negative health indicators.

However, the sad reality is that many in the African American community can tell stories on how AIDS has touched them personally and on the pain of seeing a loved one try to live with the disease and hide it at the same time. The reason for this is because in our community, the stigma carried by HIV and AIDS still tends to sap the happiness from the numbered days of those who are living with it. In far too many cases, the mention of AIDS still provokes isolation instead of understanding and condemnation instead of compassion. Because of that, AIDS has become a killing secret for us. A secret that shows up in startling statistics.

African Americans make up nearly half of all newly diagnosed cases of HIV and AIDS. AIDS is also the leading cause of death for Black women 25 to 34 years old. Many of these women contract the disease from their men -- men on the “down low”-- men who are more afraid of being called gay than they are of dying -- and taking others along with them.

The denial concerning HIV and AIDS in the Black community is dealing the death blow. In order to stem the tide of this dreaded disease we must begin to peel the stigma away and begin to battle the lack of esteem that is fueling the spread of HIV and AIDS in our community.

For example, many Black men who contract HIV while incarcerated won’t admit to having sex with other men because they wish to salvage their “manhood” and machismo, which probably landed them in prison in the first place. Then, there are Black women who won’t insist that the men they sleep with wear condoms because of the need to feel glamorous and spontaneous.

We cannot allow HIV and AIDS awareness to be limited to one day each February. We must have open and honest dialogue and break the silence that abets the stigma. This alone will give us the power to write the ending to that chapter in our history on HIV and AIDS. n