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Over the past decade, the mass media and professional literature has circulated reports that some believe the AIDS epidemic is the result of a manmade virus unleashed on the African-American population. In a recent article published in the Journal of Health Education, Sandra Crouse Quinn examines factors associated with this belief, and the findings of a cross-sectional survey sample of 1,054 black church members. The barriers this belief creates for HIV education are sizable, making it a necessary consideration in the development of programs intending to reach the African-American community.
The impact that HIV has had, and continues to have on African-Americans in the United States is reflected in the statistics recorded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While African-Americans make up only 12% of the U.S. population, they consitute 35% of all reported AIDS cases. Fifty-six percent of AIDS cases among women in this country affect blacks, and 58% of pediatric cases are African-American children.
According to Quinn, reports about AIDS as a form of genocide first surfaced in the late 1980’s. A Black Coalition Caucus expressed concern over the possibility of a situation similar to the Tuskegee Syphilis Study with its 1988 resolution to “look to our black clergy and church for absolute assurance that CDC AIDS testing and counseling initiatives are not just another Tuskegee tragedy being perpetuated on the black race.” Reports of related suspicions have been documented by the media throughout the past decade, and continue to emerge despite disbelief by many whites. Documented in the reports are beliefs that HIV was created by whites to intentionally infect blacks, that AZT is a way to poison them, and that needle exchange programs are intended to encourage drug abuse in the African-American community.
Reducing AIDS Through Community Education (RACE) is a belief survey that was administered to a sample of black church members in 1990. As Quinn reports, when questioned about the possibility of AIDS as genocide, 33.9% of respondents stated they believed HIV was manmade, while 44.4% were unsure. Fifty-six percent of respondents believed that people who support the idea that HIV originated in Africa have negative attitudes toward blacks. Thirty-five percent of those questioned agreed with the statement: “I believe that AIDS is a form of genocide against black people,” while 30% were unsure (Quinn, 1997).
The implications that this belief system has on prevention programs for African-Americans are quite serious. As Quinn points out, “the urban legend of AIDS as genocide retains its negative impact if it feeds denial of individual responsibility for reducing risk behaviors, or if health professionals refuse to see how such expressions of frustration resonate as truth for many black Americans.” The fear of genocide is typically linked with a fundamental distrust of health professionals. This distrust can manifest itself in lack of willingness to be tested for HIV or to participate in available treatments. The genocidal belief stands in direct opposition to AIDS risk reduction recommendations such as condom promotion, which has been interpreted by some as a plot to reduce the number of black babies born. As a result, such fears can contribute to the continued transmission of HIV.
Among her suggestions for ways to combat the genocide belief system, the author stresses that while it continues to be essential to increase knowledge about HIV/AIDS, this alone may do little to reduce the fear of a racial conspiracy. Quinn is mindful to point out that belief in the genocide theory cuts across educational levels, denoting that it is not a function of inadequate education. She recommends utilizing credible community sources to relay accurate HIV information as a trust-building technique. The majority of respondents in the RACE survey indicated that the race of an AIDS educator does not matter. However, the 45.5% who reported that they would prefer to be educated by an African-American scored higher on the genocide belief scale. This implies that the use of trusted resources may be an essential step toward eliminating misinformation and promoting risk reduction activities within the black community.
NEA Health Information Network