Black Los Angeles - BlackNLA Commentary

THE BRIDGE:

HIV On The Down Low

By Darryl James

One of today¹s most wildly popular discussions for Black women is the subject of Black men on the "Down Low," (DL) referring to men who date and marry women, but secretly have sex with other men. The subject is provoking fear, and based on that fear, many Black women are looking at ALL Black men as potentially "Down Low," damaging already tenuous relationships.

HIV and AIDS are frightening. They are even more frightening when dealt with steeped in misinformation.

It is frightening that while African Americans are only 12.3% of the population, they account for 39% of AIDS cases since the beginning of the epidemic.

We should be frightened of ALL HIV infection in the Black community, whether it be the African American men who are almost nine times more likely to be infected with AIDS than white men; or the African American women who are 23 times more times likely to be infected with AIDS than white women; or the African-American men ages 2554 and African-American women ages 3544, for whom HIV/AIDS was among the top three causes of death in 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Any conversation about men on the DL is a rhetorical paradox, because if a man is talking about being on the DL, then he isn¹t. For all the hysteria about the "growing" number of men on the DL, there is no real research available. In addition, any research would be skewed by the number of people who frankly, wouldn¹t tell the truth.

Yet, even media giants such as Oprah Winfrey are irresponsibly adding to the hysteria without producing any studies to support the wild allegations, and without promoting HIV prevention methods.

In a recent show on the "Down Low" behavior, Winfrey declared that "one of the big reasons why so many Black women are getting AIDS" is because "their husbands and their boyfriends are having secret sex with other men."

Those who claim that the leading cause of HIV infection in African American women is Black men who have sex with other men, are completely ignoring the lack of evidence required to form a causal relationship. They are also forgetting that the second leading cause for both groups is injection drug use, which means that this cause could just as well be the "bridge" to the rising infection in African American women.

The real question is: why is the focus only on Down Low Black men, as though Black men are the only group of people to participate in covert and dangerous behavior? Why not Down Low white men? Why not Down Low Hispanic men? What about Down Low women? What about Down Low drug users?

This issue has not provided any intrinsic awareness, and has not served to create more open discussions about sex, sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases. What it has done is drive a wedge between the already divided pools of single Black men and women.

According to the latest census statistics, 47% of Black women between the ages of 30-34 are unmarried. In research for "Bridging The Black Gender Gap," my newest book on relationships, I found that the overwhelming reason given by Black women for the failure to find marriage is the "sad state of Black men in America."

A pre-existing climate of fear and distrust facilitated the emergence of the Down Low hysteria among single Black women.

America has been enamored with and simultaneously in fear of the Black man¹s mythical sexual prowess and reckless sexual behavior for ages. On the tail end of slavery, the KKK emerged, proclaiming itself to be protecting white women from the beastly and dangerous sexual appetites of the brutish Negro.

The Down Low controversy is not very divergent, in that it proclaims that the Black man has such an insatiable appetite for sex, combined with irresponsible behavior to result in increasing HIV infection of his new victim‹the Black woman.

What is frightening for me is women who believe that only bisexual men can infect them, which means they leave themselves open to other means of transmission, including intravenous drug use, sex with drug users, and exchange of bodily fluids from woman to woman.

It is also frightening that anyone who discusses this issue is accused of defending risky behavior. For the record, I am not defending risky behavior. I am simply urging Black people away from hysterical behavior in response to rumors and innuendo.
What is truly down low, is real conversation about HIV, AIDS and the myriad methods of infection.

The point is that no one knows for certain which group is infecting which, and it is misleading and dangerous for Black women to believe that all Black men are Down Low. The only thing we can be certain of is that there are specific groups with higher risk and that we need to be highly concerned with prevention.

Race and ethnicity are not, themselves, risk factors for HIV infection, according to the CDC.

According to Dr. Robert Janssen, director of the CDC¹s division of HIV/AIDS prevention, there is simply not enough evidence available to point to any intrinsic factors contributing to the increase of infection in Black women.
We can¹t be certain that it¹s only Black men.

Darryl James is a syndicate columnist and the author of "Bridging The Black Gender Gap," which is also the basis of a national seminar series. James was awarded the 2004 Non-fiction Award for his book on the Los Angeles Riots at the Seventh Annual Black History Month Book Fair and Conference in Chicago. He can be reached at djames@TheBlackGenderGap.com.




			THE BRIDGE: HIV On The Down Low By Darryl James One of today¹s most wildly popular discussions for Black women is the subject of Black men on the "Down Low," (DL) referring to men who date and marry women, but secretly have sex with other men. The subject is provoking fear, and based on that fear, many Black women are looking at ALL Black men as potentially "Down Low," damaging already tenuous relationships. HIV and AIDS are frightening. They are even more frightening when dealt with steeped in misinformation. It is frightening that while African Americans are only 12.3% of the population, they account for 39% of AIDS cases since the beginning of the epidemic. We should be frightened of ALL HIV infection in the Black community, whether it be the African American men who are almost nine times more likely to be infected with AIDS than white men; or the African American women who are 23 times more times likely to be infected with AIDS than white women; or the African-American men ages 2554 and African-American women ages 3544, for whom HIV/AIDS was among the top three causes of death in 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Any conversation about men on the DL is a rhetorical paradox, because if a man is talking about being on the DL, then he isn¹t. For all the hysteria about the "growing" number of men on the DL, there is no real research available. In addition, any research would be skewed by the number of people who frankly, wouldn¹t tell the truth. Yet, even media giants such as Oprah Winfrey are irresponsibly adding to the hysteria without producing any studies to support the wild allegations, and without promoting HIV prevention methods. In a recent show on the "Down Low" behavior, Winfrey declared that "one of the big reasons why so many Black women are getting AIDS" is because "their husbands and their boyfriends are having secret sex with other men." Those who claim that the leading cause of HIV infection in African American women is Black men who have sex with other men, are completely ignoring the lack of evidence required to form a causal relationship. They are also forgetting that the second leading cause for both groups is injection drug use, which means that this cause could just as well be the "bridge" to the rising infection in African American women. The real question is: why is the focus only on Down Low Black men, as though Black men are the only group of people to participate in covert and dangerous behavior? Why not Down Low white men? Why not Down Low Hispanic men? What about Down Low women? What about Down Low drug users? This issue has not provided any intrinsic awareness, and has not served to create more open discussions about sex, sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases. What it has done is drive a wedge between the already divided pools of single Black men and women. According to the latest census statistics, 47% of Black women between the ages of 30-34 are unmarried. In research for "Bridging The Black Gender Gap," my newest book on relationships, I found that the overwhelming reason given by Black women for the failure to find marriage is the "sad state of Black men in America." A pre-existing climate of fear and distrust facilitated the emergence of the Down Low hysteria among single Black women. America has been enamored with and simultaneously in fear of the Black man¹s mythical sexual prowess and reckless sexual behavior for ages. On the tail end of slavery, the KKK emerged, proclaiming itself to be protecting white women from the beastly and dangerous sexual appetites of the brutish Negro. The Down Low controversy is not very divergent, in that it proclaims that the Black man has such an insatiable appetite for sex, combined with irresponsible behavior to result in increasing HIV infection of his new victim‹the Black woman. What is frightening for me is women who believe that only bisexual men can infect them, which means they leave themselves open to other means of transmission, including intravenous drug use, sex with drug users, and exchange of bodily fluids from woman to woman. It is also frightening that anyone who discusses this issue is accused of defending risky behavior. For the record, I am not defending risky behavior. I am simply urging Black people away from hysterical behavior in response to rumors and innuendo. What is truly down low, is real conversation about HIV, AIDS and the myriad methods of infection. The point is that no one knows for certain which group is infecting which, and it is misleading and dangerous for Black women to believe that all Black men are Down Low. The only thing we can be certain of is that there are specific groups with higher risk and that we need to be highly concerned with prevention. Race and ethnicity are not, themselves, risk factors for HIV infection, according to the CDC. According to Dr. Robert Janssen, director of the CDC¹s division of HIV/AIDS prevention, there is simply not enough evidence available to point to any intrinsic factors contributing to the increase of infection in Black women. We can¹t be certain that it¹s only Black men. Darryl James is a syndicate columnist and the author of "Bridging The Black Gender Gap," which is also the basis of a national seminar series. James was awarded the 2004 Non-fiction Award for his book on the Los Angeles Riots at the Seventh Annual Black History Month Book Fair and Conference in Chicago. He can be reached at djames@TheBlackGenderGap.com.