XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: jariush@nbc.com   
      
   It’s no surprise the Rev. Al Sharpton is traveling to Baton   
   Rouge this Friday to speak about the relationship between AIDS   
   and civil rights.   
      
   Baton Rouge has the highest number of AIDS case rates per capita   
   in the country, with New Orleans following at the fourth-   
   highest, according to the Centers for Disease Control and   
   Prevention.   
      
   As it turns out, civil rights and the HIV/AIDS epidemic are   
   intertwined in many different ways.   
      
   In a 2012 blog post for The Huffington Post, Sharpton addressed   
   the key correlation between location, economic standing and race   
   in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.   
      
   “Some studies even suggest that a person living in Mississippi   
   with AIDS is 50 percent more likely to die from it than a person   
   living in New York with AIDS,” Sharpton wrote. “This is a   
   travesty.”   
      
   One of the sources Sharpton used for his post also mentioned   
   that black males in Mississippi are actually 10 times more   
   likely than white Mississippians to die from HIV/AIDS.   
      
   In addition to the disproportionate diagnosis of HIV/AIDS in the   
   black community, the Department of Health and Hospitals reports   
   that men who have sex with men are the primary risk factor for   
   new HIV diagnoses in Louisiana.   
      
   These statistics suggest already stigmatized and oppressed   
   groups don’t have access to the proper education and materials,   
   such as condoms or sterile needles, that could thus prevent them   
   from infection. Then, once they are HIV positive, there is an   
   inadequate effort to treat and provide health care to these   
   individuals.   
      
   Well, this is the case. Why else would it be less likely for   
   heterosexuals and white men and women to receive HIV diagnoses?   
      
   In my research, I stumbled upon an online comment that bluntly   
   stated HIV/AIDS is popular amongst African-Americans because of   
   “single-parent homes and lack of personal responsibility.” Aside   
   from being racist, this is also completely untrue.   
      
   Although black men and women don’t necessarily partake in   
   riskier behaviors, the Centers for Disease Control and   
   Prevention states there were 486,282 African-Americans compared   
   to 435,613 Caucasians who were diagnosed with AIDS in 2011.   
      
   Our neighbor state, Mississippi, seems to be especially bad at   
   caring for its HIV/AIDS-infected citizens. Out of its nearly $5   
   billion budget, Mississippi only dedicates a morsel of that to   
   HIV/AIDS programs. Representative John Hines commented on his   
   state’s view of individuals living with HIV/AIDS, saying,   
   “Legislators in Mississippi don’t see it as a public health   
   crisis; they see it as a punishment for an unhealthy lifestyle.”   
      
   Unfortunately, a big portion of HIV-positive individuals are   
   unaware of their infection. Testing and treatment centers need   
   to be placed in areas regardless of the neighborhood’s   
   socioeconomic status or racial makeup.   
      
   Ample health care should be provided to all sick people,   
   regardless of class, race, gender or location. It is outrageous   
   to know that if I were HIV-positive, I would have a better   
   chance of survival if I moved to San Francisco or New York,   
   where this type of prejudice doesn’t infiltrate the state’s   
   health care system.   
      
   We have the tools and technology to eliminate the spread   
   HIV/AIDS. The state you live in, the color of your skin and your   
   choice of sexual partners should not have anything to do with   
   your chance of contracting HIV.   
      
   SidneyRose Reynen is an 18-year-old film and art history   
   freshman from New Orleans.   
      
   http://www.lsureveille.com/opinion/opinion-aids-and-civil-rights-   
   intertwined-in-discrimination-and-death/article_fcd4649e-9902-   
   11e3-bff5-0017a43b2370.html   
      
   SidneyRose Reynen is an affirmative action liberal indoctrinated   
   sap.   
      
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)