PLEASE STOP BARE-BACKING CASUALLY

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THIS ENTRY IS AN E-MAIL THAT WAS SENT TO ME & I WANTED TO GET YOUR THOUGHTS...PLEASE NOTE THAT NOT ONE WORD WAS EDITED TO SWAY ANY FORM OF OPINION BELOW IS MESSAGE THAT SPARKED THIS E-MAIL.

Am I the only one to find it extremely amazing what with all the fucking, kinky fucking at that, not to mention all the drugging they do, that the rates for Whites miraculously seem to stay the same, while the rates for us Blacks steadily skyrocket, according to various reports.  Plus, when you consider the number of Whites who like to have their Mandingo fantasies fulfilled in the arms of us "highly diseased and infected" Blacks.....you'd think their infection rates would rise just a little bit, but no, its just us Black folk. Could it be that more Blacks go to clinics that file and report their findings, and more Whites go to private doctors who may be golf buddies with their fathers, etc., and those results are NOT being accurately documented and reported???  I just refused to believe, that with as much as Whites do, the infection rates are that vastly different. My thoughts, anyway....

Actually, studies show that blacks, along w/ hispanics/Latinos are the fastest growing segments, largely due to poverty, less education, more cultural homophobia that has led many in both groups to prefer the term 'men having sex w/ men' & not gay, as the culture educates, encultures & encourages/demands that men on both groups must be 'real men', that 'gay' is a white 'social problem', that blacks/latinos first responsibility is to maintain a public image & not embrass/degrade the 'race' by 'misbehaving'. This has led to a great deal of 'down-low'--I'm sure u're VERY familiar w/ the term, which much like youths' ideas that only VAGINAL intercourse is 'really sex' & thus take 'vows of chastity until marriage' or 'abstinence pledges' while believing that oral & MORE problematic, ANAL sex 'does not count', thus using no protection or worrying about the repercussions. A black/Latino man on the 'DL' who wants to go have 'man-on-man' sex, feels he CAN'T show up 2 the sex clubs, chance encounters, bath houses, etc w/ condoms in hand as that would imply/indicate that they KNEW from the outset that they were going out w/ a specific intent to have sex w/ a man. This same 'dishonest', 'denial', 'it just happened' mentality leads them to engage in risky behaviours, NOT ask partners for status--which by itself is UNRELIABLE!!! when an individual is feeling horny & wanting to get laid & things the 'wrong' answer will ruin his chances, he may & too often DOES lie, figuring anybody willing to take a total stranger's word in a questionable place as honest is probably not playing w/ too much going on upstairs or whose own lies don't warrant truth from others...--& thus are @ much HIGHER risk, given the partner choices, locales 4 the 'hook-ups', circumstances, lack of real self-awareness or internal reality & thus @ far greater risk of infection. Sadly, these same men will all too often return home & have sex w/ their wives/gfs/etc, perhaps even 2 re-confirm their 'heterosexual natures' b & exposing their partners but certainly NOT owning any of their risks, dishonest r irresponsible behaviours, etc.

As 4 whites having more elite medical services...while it IS true that far TOO MANY spoiled whites DO have elite care, when an individual tests positive, the law REQUIRES that it be reported, regardless of race, social status, etc. Arthur Ashe, Magic Johnson, as well as other white celebrities have come out rather than let the media beat them to the disclosure as such information is going to be 'leaked' no matter who u are, who u know or how much money u may have to 'buy' another's silence.

@ least here in the States, overall, whites have had far more infections (& the #'s u are looking @ are 'per capita' not absolutes) altho economics WILL affect individual health, diet, self-care, etc, ALL factors that DO play into physical vulnerability as well as capacity to ward off infections, when the devastation began, it was overwhelming the white gay population hit hardest & decimated. In fact, that early decimation may have--MAY have!!--spared others by quickly obliterating potential partners w/ the disease spreading it. I can only say that regardless of color--I am white, have been poz for over 25 years, still managing, w/ meds, & lts of complications to maintain some sort of decent health (w/ some seriously scary periods) & my eldest brother passed years ago, & was also positive, from what he shared according to early CDC studies he was a part of, infected probably even earlier than I was, most of my early friends, roommates, co-workers, dates, bfs, crushes, tricks, etc have been dead for OVER 2 decades!!! (while mostly white, many of in ALL those categories were from many, most or ALL races!! I've never been terribly concerned by race or rather may ave some strong preferences for men of color, altho the opportunities due to numbers, separate 'communities' etc, limited the possibilities). But no matter what color u are, having HIV/AIDS is NOT fun, easy, better, 'priviledged' or ANYTHING 'better' than being neg!!!

Now it IS true that many treatments were 1st--& sometimes exclusively...--in the beginning & then presented to the population w/ no regard 2 different results or side-effects that would later be associated w/ gender or race! A sad but true fact of medical & pharmaceutical bias that is only somewhat easing over time. So AFTER u have tested poz, treatment options, care, social support, etc have often been lacking for other minority groups. & also, too often, these same minorities--sometimes due to ignorance of even risk factors (having a partner who is DL!!), ignorance, lack or information/opportunity/social investment are more likely to come into the healthcare system in an Emergency room after the disease is already well-advanced & much more difficult if even somewhat treatable.

ALL these factors are tragic & reprehensible. Much CAN be blamed on our power structure & social programming biases, but @ least some of the responsibility falls on cultural systems that leave the people being raised in & living amongst uninformed, often self-loathing & misinformed or so afraid of social stigma that they continue to live secret lives & fuel the fires of continuing to spread this awful disease.