Chris Stevenson: New Study Reveals More Blacks believe in Government AIDS Conspiracy

/

By: Chris Stevenson

A recent study reveals that African Americans-who comprise 13% of the American population-also make up 50% of new HIV infections. Black women made up 73% of the new female HIV cases in 2003, compared to 40% of new cases for Black men (Black gay men represented 30% of the Black males, there are no reports of new cases among Black lesbians). These findings are not surprising, everyone has been aware of the growing AIDS dilema, what people in general are not aware of is the new Black view on AIDS origins that is taking on a snowball effect almost as swiftly as the illness itself. According to a study by the Rand Corporation and the University of Oregon, 44% of all African Americans think that the new HIV patients that take the new medicines are actually guinea pigs, and 15% of those same polled think that AIDS is a form of genocide aimed toward Blacks. What this suggest is that 44% of Blacks feel the government is simply playing "You Got Punked" with it's Black patients who feel they are recieving actual treament, as opposed to the 15% who feel the goverment is using AIDS to outright kill us off.

I think it's healthy that people in general know what African Americans really feel about the federal government as well as the health industry, as unsophisticated as these views may seem, it's hard to ignore that this country has a track record. "This is not a bunch of crazy people running around saying 'they're out to get us,'" states Na'im Akbar, a Professor of Psychology at Florida State University. But some pundits have been observing that a growing number of Blacks have been pointing a finger toward government in connection to recent issues ranging from illegal drug importation to rigging presidential elections, what is so different about their growing suspicions regarding goverment and AIDS? Experts say this AIDS claim creates a barrier between prevention and treatment and the Black patient. In truth this affects Blacks more than the other issues, they can still choose to not smoke crack or stop smoking crack, Blacks can choose to stop voting, but if someone finds they have HIV or AIDS they really have no choice.

"The belief comes from the reality of 300 years of slavery and 100 years of post-slavery exploitation," adds Akbar. This boils down to whether Blacks believe that the desendants of slave owners are capable of actually creating this deadly virus in a government lab in modern times. 26.6% of those Blacks polled say yes. White pundits and pollsters have made much of Black conspiracy theorys, especially since the '90's, what they haven't noticed is 75.4 percent still feel the government is trying to stop the spread of HIV in Black communities. Conservative Whites see conspiracy howlers, I see a people still too trusting in mainstream White America to make a serious difference in stopping AIDS. The results of this study, just released in late January, was actually a telephone survey conducted between 9/02 and 9/03 by Applied Research Northwest (of Bellingham, Washington) which has a data base of 19,000 phone numbers aimed at areas of the US most densly populated with African Americans, which resulted in 500 completed surveys of Blacks between ages 15-44, and born in the US.

A 1999 study among 96 White and 91 Black college students reveals one such study into Blacks supposed proclivity to harbor conspiracy theories: "Black Americans are far more likely than White Americans to endure theories about conspiracies by the US Government against Blacks," according to Jennifer Crocker (University of Michigan), Riia Luhtanen (University of Michigan), Stephanie Broadnax (University of Buffalo), and Bruce Evans (Hofstra). To be honest with you, I feel there may be more attention paid to Blacks who believe in conspiracies, than there is being given to conspiracies. This upward spiral is due in no small part to the antics of President George W. Bush and his administration whether real or percieved. Whereas before, the right could pick off isolated people like Dr. Boyd Graves or 2004 Nobel prize winner Wangari Maathai, and label them nutcases for accussing the US, now they are dealing with an emerging number within an ethnic populace. If Blacks are skeptical about AIDS origins, what are they to make of reports of AIDS vaccine initiatives targeted toward people who don't have it?

Blacks can find optimism in the results of another study released late Jan., a 1/30 New York Times story that the US government is close to eliminating AIDS in infants. They site the vastly reduced number of infants born with HIV (from 2,000 in '90, to 5 in '03), the key has been continued success in stopping mother-to-child transmission. AIDS can only be cured by fighting the illness, and not tracing the skeptics.