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Sunday, February 7, 2010

Disproportionate.

Disproportionate: Out of proportion, as in size or number.
Synonyms: Unreasonable, too much, unequal, excessive.



I research articles and such for this blog pretty frequently, and though I know the statistics, it never hit me until a few days ago how often the word disproportionate is used in reference to African-Americans and HIV. It also hit me how often I read or hear that word. Which, is like....never. Pretty much the only time I hear that word is in reference to African-Americans and HIV.

So, if you haven't done your homework (*side eye*) or if this is your first time here at Project Nefertiti (Hey BOO!) or even if you've been here before (you still have to read this *side eye again*) let me give you some stats: according to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) African-Americans make up for about 13% of the US population; however, they make up for 49% of new HIV/AIDS infections. To break that down even further, HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death for African-Americans, and of all women who have HIV, black women make up about 67% of them. O_O.

So the word disproportionate works perfectly here doesn't it? But who wants to be a statistic? Not me. Instead of setting records for the population group with the most HIV infections, why can't we be the group with a disproportionate amount of college grads? Or the group that made the most advances in technology, or healthcare research or ANYTHING ELSE?

There are many reasons why African-Americans are greatly affected by HIV/AIDS. And even with the information available to us, I know for a fact a lot of black people don't really believe they can get HIV and do next to nothing to protect themselves. We've got to come together as a race and educate ourselves, protect ourselves, and educate others. With stats like these, an impact in our community is an impact on EVERY community.

Today is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. So black men and women (and everyone ones, everyones) when you have the opportunity, maybe instead of talking about that new outfit you bought last weekend or what club you went to, talk about getting tested. (Women....come on. I know we talk about WAAAY worse stuff when we get together O_o). As always: educate yourself, get tested, and be safe.

For information about National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, or to find a testing site, check out these sites:




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