Posted on 10/22/2010 7:03:24 AM PDT by flowerplough
How a new report on HIV infection in the Big Apple scared a health reporter into getting tested and having a frank discussion with her "boo."
By Tomika Anderson
My longtime lover and I were driving through Harlem when we passed a billboard that made me want to slam on the brakes and pull the car over. On it were two women -- one black and one Latina -- their pretty, youthful faces in lights. But under their pictures was a statistic that sucker-punched me: 93.4 percent.
As in, 93.4 of all new HIV cases among women in NYC occur among black and Latina women.
...
According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, a majority of the newest reported infections among women in that city were obtained during heterosexual sex. And the number of newly infected black women is on the rise: The latest count (which covers the first half of 2009) is up nearly 2 percent from 2008.
The astronomical figure hits even closer to home for me: Not only do Black women account for more than 66 percent of all new cases (beating Latinas two to one), but the group of sistas getting infected fastest are 30 to 39 years old -- an age when many of us are getting married or are trying to be married. When many of us are having children. When many of us -- myself included -- figure, hell, I've been in this long-term relationship for a while ... I can let down my guard and trust my partner. Right?
Clearly, wrong.
Three days later, I got my second HIV test of the year.
(Excerpt) Read more at theroot.com ...
Not sure I blindly trust the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene quite as much as they seem to trust the black and Latina women they are case-studying.
HIV is racist!
I wish there was something they could use to prevent the spread of disease and prevent pregnancy. You know, like some kind of ultra thin latex cover. Too bad there isn’t anything like that available.
Nah, too easy.
Long term relationship? How about that tried and true relationship, monogamous marriage? Sorry, but the spread of age is greater in communities that have bought into the idea that sex with multiple partners is ok, IV drug use is more common, homosexual sex is high, etc etc. We know how HIV is transmitted, and it’s fairly easy to avoid it.
The real question: Why is she in a relationship with someone she doesn't trust?
Heck, there's a far easier solution out there for this problem ...
One aspirin ---
--- firmly held between the knees.
I think the only other competing cause for women in NYC would be infected needles.
Oops, typo. Should have been spread of aids, not spread of age. Wish avoiding the spread of age were quite that simple!
“...in that city were obtained during heterosexual sex.”
That may be a huge lie. Many Black and Hispanic women get HIV from men who are “on the down low” and leading a secret gay life.
You guys still buying into this absolute lie? HIV is a harmless retrovirus. It’s ubiquitous. I’ve refuted this thousands of times here but it still keeps popping up. Absolute nonsense.
Sadly these types of problems quickly solve themselves.
Obviously Bush’s fault . . . probably accelerated by those racists bastards in the Tea Party movement . . . Kinda’ missed the part about “during SPOUSAL sex,” or did I miss that?
I think the deal here is that 1) more gay men in these communities are on the down low and living a secretly bisexual lifestyle because homosexuality is less culturally accepted, 2) more men have been in prison, where they are more likely to have contracted and 3) there is higher drug use, so more chance that one’s partner contracted it via a contaminated needle.
If you leave the gates wide open for anyone to enter, you’re going to get some “riff-raff”...just sayin’
What would be even more effective would be to take that item while it is still in its package, and put it on the inside of her left knee, then hold it against the inside of her left knee with her right knee.
So, yes, all things that have to do with behaviors within the community.
Interesting - where can I read your refutation?
I guess my question for Tomika is this: Are you stepping out on your “long-time lover” and giving it away on the side? Or do you suspect your “long-time lover” is stepping out on you and getting some strange on the side? Or do you and/or your “long-time lover” use IV drugs with potentially contaminated needles? Unless one of these conditions is positive, you will most likely remain HIV negative.
LOL! My hips agree ;-).
A lot of their boyfriends are on the ‘down low.’
Q.E.D.
Mine are in solidarity as well.
But not particularly caused by the individual women affected and black women may find it difficult to establish a relationship outside of their community.
I was going to say that maybe she could do better, find a man who’s honest and committed to her ... but then I looked at the picture.
So Tomika’s problem (and that of many of the women in her “94%” demographic group) is that she’s fishing in the shallow end of the gene pond when it comes to character?
The woman chooses who she sleeps with, and while even making careful choices she may still contract one of the STDs out there (HIV is only the worst of several) she lessens her chance greatly. I do not believe we are tied to our communities in this day and age as we were in the past. You clearly disagree, and I won’t comment on what I think of that opinion.
Guess that too many New York black and latin men are on the down low.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/16/BARI11PM03.DTL&tsp=1
“Many Black and Hispanic women get HIV from men who are “on the down low” and leading a secret gay life.”
You beat me to it. The whole “down-low” lifestyle in the black male community is terrifying. And I’ve heard that they believe that having homosexual sex doesn’t make them gay, so they carry on with their heterosexual relationships, too. Their female partners are so vulnerable.
Of course it is easy to distort reality with clever use of statistics. For example, 93.4% of all new reported HIV cases among women were black or latino. So let’s take a look at what this COULD mean. Let us suppose for example that during the time period in question (we really don’t know was it new cases last month, last year, since Bush was defeated and the sun rose again in New York City?) but let’s just assume it is in one year: Assume that of the NEW reported cases of HIV there were 100, and then assume that of the 100 new cases there were 16 women. Of these 16 women, 10 were black and 5 were hispanic. This would get us to the 93.4% of all NEW cases of HIV among women were black or latina with blacks making up 66% of the new cases.
That isn’t quite as bleak as saying that any black or latina bimbo that opens up her legs for some guy is 94% likely to be infected with HIV.
They pick it up from their lovers/husbands who have been in prison/jail. DUH
Nothing in the article actually address what the HIV rates are for black women, only that the percentage of new HIV cases among women is much higher for blacks and latinas than it is among whites, or that blacks and latinas make up almost all of the NEW cases of HIV among women.
One would be led to believe that many black men are engaging in homosexual sex ,or using drugs and then having sex with women and passing it on.
But of course that is a logical solution.
Yes, this “long-time lover” is even less than a shack-up because she is so free to give it away that they aren’t even living together. No telling how many combinations of DNA are swimming around in his boxers and her panties after they get dressed to go on their respective ways afterwards.
Hope Tomika doesn’t work for NPR. Thoughtcrime like that could get her fired.
Okay, you have my attention, pontificate sir.
“The wages of sin is death”.
The old Truths are still true.
Amen to that. Rules are there for a reason.
You would think that they would have testing done.
I really cannot comprehend behaving this way. It’s like a different planet the mentality is so uncomprehensible to me.
Exactly. She should be concentrating on a career that puts her in a position of finding a decent man. Number two point eight billion I am all for women having a career.
Exactly. She should be concentrating on a career that puts her in a position of finding a decent man. Number two point eight billion I am all for women having a career.
Don’t do that! Logic might hurt someone’s feelings and self esteem!
Exactly. If a culture values self discipline, chastity, and morality, with a dash of going after decent men instead of gang members, the members of it will avoid massive amounts of infection from sexually transmitted diseases.
Idiocy.
These women are idiots for dating people who are cirminals in the first place. Do these women NOT WANT to live a stable lifestyle?
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