The Black Holocaust

As we go through this political season, I find it interesting that there has not been much of a discourse from the candidates on the epidemic of AIDS in the black community. In particular the rate of AIDS in black women is growing at an alarming rate. I understand that personal responsibility plays a significant role in steming the tide; however, our leaders should lead and have some type of plan to address this growing issue.

Without question, there is a higher percentage of HIV and AIDS in the black female population in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year looked at data from 1999 to 2002 reported by 29 states that track HIV infections. The data is somewhat skewed because several states that have serious AIDS problems—including California, New York, and Illinois—did not at that time tally HIV infections. The study found that black women accounted for nearly 72 percent of the female cases, whites made up 18 percent and Hispanics 8.5 percent. Given that only 13 percent of Americans are black, you don't need a statistician to see the scale of the problem. (Encouragingly, the number of new HIV cases reported in women, regardless of race, did not increase during the four years of the study.)

So in this season when the front runners are claiming to be agents of change. Will they change this Nation’s current indifference to the plight of the black community and the growing pandemic of AIDS?