Why are black people at greater risk of catching HIV?

[fskn]

13 hours ago, TotalTop said:

Unsafe sex, not using condoms or as of more recently taking prep daily, not getting tested, and the attitude of "I can have as much unsafe sex as I want and not take prep or use condoms and I will stay HIV NEG!" I don't think this has to do with race or ethnicity.

There's a risk of confusing individual factors with systemic ones. To suggest that lower PrEP use among African Americans contributes to a higher rate of new HIV infections among African Americans might be correct (PrEP uptake among African Americans is lower, new HIV infections in the US are disproportionately higher among African Americans, and in US and global study populations, PrEP use significantly reduced new HIV infections, so PrEP definitely makes a difference) but it would not be correct to go on to suggest that African Americans don't "want" to take PrEP, get tested, look after their sexual health, etc. It's much more than a question of individual will.

Others have already mentioned statistical differences in income levels, education, access to health care, and quality of care.

Let's also acknowledge the horrible legacy of medical experiments done without consent on African Americans (ref: Tuskegee syphilis experiments). It's no wonder that, even in pockets where there is good access to information and care, systemic suspicion of the medical establishment lingers among African Americans.

As a country we have a lot of work left to do to demonstrate that African Americans (and other marginalized groups) are full and equal participants in health systems. I have volunteered for two decades in public health, and have witnessed steps backward (AHF ran anti-PrEP ads in newspapers and is still running poster ads in minority neighborhoods that suggest, through pictures, words and scenarios, that African American men are untrustworthy and that their girlfriends should go to AHF immediately for HIV testing) as well as steps forward (opportunities for people of color, like myself, to participate actively on advisory boards for US government-funded medical research, and big changes to recruiting criteria for these studies, to make sure that the results will be statistically valid for many different population subgroups, including African Americans, trans people, and others).

If we look farther afield, at Black Africans, we see inexcusible missteps even today, but that would be a whole other post. Suffice it to say that much work remains to be done to build trust among Black communities, and that if this work isn't done, the health of all the world's people will continue to be affected.

[Shotsfired]

On 1/16/2022 at 9:39 AM, fskn said:

There's a risk of confusing individual factors with systemic ones. To suggest that lower PrEP use among African Americans contributes to a higher rate of new HIV infections among African Americans might be correct (PrEP uptake among African Americans is lower, new HIV infections in the US are disproportionately higher among African Americans, and in US and global study populations, PrEP use significantly reduced new HIV infections, so PrEP definitely makes a difference) but it would not be correct to go on to suggest that African Americans don't "want" to take PrEP, get tested, look after their sexual health, etc. It's much more than a question of individual will.

Others have already mentioned statistical differences in income levels, education, access to health care, and quality of care.

Let's also acknowledge the horrible legacy of medical experiments done without consent on African Americans (ref: Tuskegee syphilis experiments). It's no wonder that, even in pockets where there is good access to information and care, systemic suspicion of the medical establishment lingers among African Americans.

As a country we have a lot of work left to do to demonstrate that African Americans (and other marginalized groups) are full and equal participants in health systems. I have volunteered for two decades in public health, and have witnessed steps backward (AHF ran anti-PrEP ads in newspapers and is still running poster ads in minority neighborhoods that suggest, through pictures, words and scenarios, that African American men are untrustworthy and that their girlfriends should go to AHF immediately for HIV testing) as well as steps forward (opportunities for people of color, like myself, to participate actively on advisory boards for US government-funded medical research, and big changes to recruiting criteria for these studies, to make sure that the results will be statistically valid for many different population subgroups, including African Americans, trans people, and others).

If we look farther afield, at Black Africans, we see inexcusible missteps even today, but that would be a whole other post. Suffice it to say that much work remains to be done to build trust among Black communities, and that if this work isn't done, the health of all the world's people will continue to be affected.

Preach! YES!

[BlackDude]

This whole narrative that Black people are so homophobic that there is some underground culture of “down low” men exclusive to the black community spreading HIV is pure fiction. I’ve seen so many married white men in saunas and spas it’s ridiculous. How many black cumdumps do you know?
 
There is just as much homophobia in the black community as their is in the white community, Latin community, etc. Black people were not the ones creating sodomy laws, outlawing gay marriage/education,  or starting a “straight pride” parade. Let’s not even talk about the It Gets Better Project, where you can find thousands of stories of non black kids being persecuted for their sexuality. 

There are dozens of studies that show Black people receive lower quality healthcare than everyone else, even if they have insurance. I know this from personal experience. Also, some black HIV cases are from immigrants from other countries with extreme poverty looming for better healthcare. When they come here, they are lumped in with blacks who are Americans.

There are some good points on here, but seriously some of you need to update your stereotypes. I swear some of you guys know nothing about the black community or perspective besides the sexual fantasies in you’re head. And you’ll always have some other black guy co-signing cause he’s bitter a few people in the black community who don’t accept his sexuality. 

Edited January 18, 2022 by BlackDude

[fskn]

5 hours ago, BlackDude said:

Black people were not the ones creating sodomy laws

Yes, yes, yes!

I love what you wrote in general, but I want to call out this point.

Much of our discussion has been US-centric. People may not realize that the anti-gay laws common in African and Caribbean countries are holdovers from British colonial rule. (I do not mean to exonerate present-day Black political leaders. Just as former colonies can choose to sever exploitative economic ties with Britain — to stop sending sugar cane and tea, so to speak —, leave the Commonwealth and remove the Queen as the head of state, they can also repeal stupid British laws if they want to.)

[Guest]

Some countries like the US use race to gain control for politics.  They use it anyway they can if looked at closely.  In poor cities as well as poor countries use race to make things worse than they are.  My heritage isn't white, yet I look it.  The low income areas always have less education, higher crime and the list never stops.  So if people aren't giving the proper sex ed, they will never know about HIV or anything else.  I've had good friends that have worked in poor countries as well as American cities.  Not all states & countries teach the same. 

[FagSwallows69]

On 10/31/2021 at 11:39 AM, Kimberley said:

who are you? please don't react anymore on my post. it is annoying now

U are more than welcome to delete it (or clarify what u wrote) if you'd like to. I'm just saying because what you said is, at best "insensitive"; at worst, "bigoted". 

[Guest]

On 1/18/2022 at 12:20 AM, ImNotSeasonedMeat said:

As a Black male I can state that the answer is not as complex as one may think. It's due to both biological and racial issues. Biological because it has been proven that people of Caucasian descent have some sort of variable in their body that generally makes it harder for them to catch HIV, meanwhile that is rarely ever present in Blacks but science has shown that Black people are better at fighting HIV and generally live longer with it when treatment is sough. Race issue stems from how homosexuality is viewed in our communities. It is extremely frowned up and because of that, some DL Black men will simply engage in gay behaviour and never use condoms because they don't view the act as 'gay,' since 'they're not gay,' they're the ones' doing the fucking, not getting fucked. 

Results
MtDNA haplogroups J and U5a were elevated among HIV-1 infected people who display accelerated progression to AIDS and death. Haplogroups Uk, H3, and IWX appeared to be highly protective against AIDS progression.

Do you mean how Europeans are of these genetic MTDNA haplogroups?

[think before following links] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2699618/