African American Stigmas

Since the United States’ inception, the negative stereotypes and generalizations of African Americans have been some of the worst examples of racism that has been extremely prevalent in American culture. African American stereotypes date back all the way to colonial American times, where African American slavery was considered to be accepted and practiced. Since then, black people in America have been treated horribly for stereotypes that have deep roots in the mistreatment of black people in American history.

Many individuals have this malnourished ideal that HIV/AIDS is a disease based on race. “AIDS; which has ravaged minority community in disproportionately large numbers, must be viewed as racial issue, the national commission member on AIDS said yesterday” (Priest). Years ago Yale University law professor Harlon Dalton said this about HIV/AIDS, “We cannot approach the AIDS problem in a color blind fashion” (Priest). With this being said we need to stop pointing fingers at blacks’ for the disproportionate factor of HIV in this country. And also stop pointing fingers at black homosexuals.

HIV and AIDS is affecting the latino community in a negative way. It’s causing the quality of life in the United States to drop, but why is that. In 2015, Hispanics/Latinos made up about 23% of the countries new HIV diagnoses despite only being 18% of the population. The stigma that comes from the Hispanic/Latino culture, factors being economical or personal are major factors that makes HIV/AIDS thrive in the latino community. The young Hispanic/Latino community are at risk since, they are being deprived from showing their sexuality because of their cultures stigma. The gender power imbalance in these communities, and their stigma against homosexuals. Statistics from new HIV infections, gender ratios, death rates, education and so on.

​African-Americans are the ethnic group most affected by HIV/AIDS. Ironically african-americans represent 14% of the population of the United States , but represent 44% across the gender line. African-american men represent 70% of HIV infections among the ethnic group, however african-american women are also highly at risk of HIV infection. Indeed they have a rate of infection that is 15 times greater than the rate for caucasion women (HIV among African-Americans, 2012). Most African-american women (85%) are infected with HIV through heterosexual sex, often with partners, who claim to be

Many problems are facing African American males. Few people are knowledgeable of the disparity between African American males and females as it relates to incarceration, homicide, suicide, alcoholism, and many other ailments (p. 9).

HIV/AIDS is a disease with social, psychological and physiological consequences for those impacted by the illness. The impact of HIV and AIDS among African American women has been devastating. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC, 2010) reports that black women represent 29% of the estimated new HIV infections among all adult and adolescent African Americans and HIV/AIDS is the third leading cause of death for black women ages 25?44. Several

Due to gaps in policy oversight, the percentage of minorities living with HIV and AIDS in the United States remains high. It has remained high due in part to policies that were implemented during the early 90’s, emblematically The Ryan White Care Act, along with in policy makers for their failure to recognize the special needs and factors that pertain to minority groups, specifically African Americans and Non-white Hispanics. The racial disparities that have historically plagued these minority groups were initially overlooked in the policy making and implementation process. In turn, it is no disheartening wonder that certain figures and data are now representative of the minority demographic; example:

AIDS was closely linked with gay men within the American psychology.[iii] The first time that

Many people are unaware of their health status further increasing transmission of disease in young adult African American(AA) women age 18-24. Human Immunodeficiency Viruses (HIV) infects and also destroy blood cells (i.e. lymphocytes) that the body need to fight off infection (Mays 2011). African American women HIV positive, age 18-24 the magnitude of issue of the health disparity in this particular population will be addressed along with the many factors of social and health determinants. The health concern is towards the increase of transmission among young AA mothers and their children who are the health outcomes in many ways than one. The many social and health determinants that affect the women today are on going cycles that have yet to be broken. African American women make 64% of new infection cases for HIV. African american obtain a vulnerability unlike other minorities. The health population’s culture and stigma has played an important role in the community. The concern for AA women is the increase of new cases and most importantly the spread of the disease to these women’s children. The mortality rate of AA women with HIV is 47.1% as of 2012. (Siddiqi 2015)

On busy street in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska there is a small, light brown building that says “Law Offices” in large letters on the front. This building houses NAP, or the Nebraska Aids Project; the only aids service program in the entire state. The Nebraska Aids project is vital to Nebraska’s population in general, more specifically however it is crucial to young men of color who have sex with men (MSM), a broad term just to describe people of varying sexualities; the term young in this instance refers to those twenty-five years of age or younger.

Health is a state of well being, and ideally, in an equal society, all people should be provided with the necessary tools to maintain that state of health. Ideals are mere fantasies, however, since even the most developed countries fall victim to health inequities. These inequities are avoidable inequalities in health between different groups of people. African Americans are among many other groups of people that fall victim to a system that, sometimes inconspicuously creates barriers wherein people cannot adequately arm themselves with the tools to remain healthy. One of the most common health inequities among African Americans is the HIV/AIDs virus. This viruses significance is relatively recent in human history, but the damage it has

Department of Health & Human Services the group of people who are disproportionately affected by HIV are African Americans Gay and Bisexual Men. From 2005 to 2014, diagnoses increased 22% among all African Americans Gay and bisexual men and 87% among young African Americans and gay and bisexual men. By the end of 2013, an approximation of 493,543 gay and bisexual men were living with the HIV infection. Of those, 152,303 (31%) were African American, 210,299 (43%) were white, and 104,529 (21%) were Hispanic/Latino (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2016). Socioeconomic factors limited access to quality health care, lower income and educational levels, and higher rates of unemployment and incarceration may place some African American gay and bisexual men at higher risk for HIV than men of some other races/ethnicities.

According to recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 1.2 million individuals in the United States have HIV (about 14 percent of which are unaware of their infection and another 1.1 million have progressed to AIDS. Over the past decade, the number of HIV cases in the US has increased, however, the annual number of cases remains stable at about 50, 000 new cases per year. Within these estimates, certain groups tend to carry the burden of these disease, particularly the gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men (MSM) and among race/ethnic groups, Blacks/African American males remain disproportionately affected. (CDC)

“African American communities are populated by men who are too weak and by women who are too strong”. In my opinion, this sentence alone fully summarizes chapter 6 of our Black Sexuality and Health text. It has become a norm in the Black community to suggest that strengthening “weak” Black men is the best way to fight racism and to reverse African American poverty. African American women are constantly viewed as “too strong”, and unwilling to accept help for others including her Black man. The tremendous strength of Black women has caused for counseling to “let” Black men lead and also has led to African American men and women being encouraged to blame one another for economic, political, and social problems within African

Various studies show evidence that link the relationship between social determinants of health and the risk for HIV. Interrelated social determinants of health can create a context of vulnerability and risk for HIV. It is very important to be able to recognize the interrelation components of HIV risk in order determine the HIV prevention response that is the most effective. For instance, research shows that HIV rates are significantly higher in Black men who have sex with men (MSM) than for MSM of other races. These rates, which are very disproportionate, are not attributable to a higher frequency of sexual risk behaviors. To appropriately address risk for MSM of different races, it is imperative to understand the process of disease transmission among these populations, in other words, the social determinants of health that are involved, such as access to healthcare (CHLA, 2012).