|
Plight of African-Americans in NC January 6, 2002 When investigation for this story began in June of 2001, it was about the rise in the number of AIDS cases affecting African-Americans in North Carolina. The statistics concerning African-Americans in prisons in North Carolina is startling. As the number of cases of AIDS continues to grow in North Carolina, a public health risk becomes more apparent. 36.1 million people are estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS. While the latest statistics for new AIDS cases has not disclosed the number of African-American cases involved, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released the figure of 947 new AIDS cases reported in North Carolina in 2001. This figure is 41 percent higher than the 673 number of new cases reported in North Carolina in the year 2000. Twenty years ago a deadly virus was discovered and eventually labeled AIDS, acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Initially believed to be gay-related, the first name given to the syndrome was GRID - Gay-Related Immune Deficiency. By 1982 this consensus changed, as thousands of heterosexual drug users, women, hemophiliacs, and even children, became infected with the virus. By the end of 1987, nearly 63,000 cases of AIDS had been reported in 127 countries. The World Health Organization believes the numbers were much higher by that point in time, estimating an actual count of infected individuals to be more than 100,000 cases. Ten years later, in 1997, there were 2.3 million deaths reported due to the AIDS virus. Over the past two decades AIDS has taken millions of lives worldwide. In the year 2000, according to the N.C. Division of Public Health's Epidemiology and Special Studies Unit, numbers show 72% of the cases in North Carolina affecting African-Americans, with twice as many men as women infected. That's not the only bad news for African-Americans, as statictics show 82% of the cases of gonorrhea in the state attributed to them as well. It's difficult to determined why the cases of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) have risen so sharply in the African-American community, but this much is sure, we are in the midst of a public health crisis, and nobody seems to care. AIDS isn't the only thing killing African-American males in North Carolina. According to the NC State Prison statisics, as of June 7, 2001, there are 122 black men on death row, compared to 81 white men. When you consider that the African-American population in NC is only 21%, these statistics are staggering. The general population in North Carolina prisons shows there are nearly twice as many African-Americans as whites. Is there a correlation between the number of African-Americans with AIDS in North Carolina and the number of African-Americans in NC prisons? Probably. Perhaps AIDS isn't the biggest concern facing African-Americans in North Carolina. For more information on AIDS, click here to go to the Center For Disease Control website. Downtown Carrboro Map| Events| Prices| Restaurants| UniqueOrn Website Development 
|