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Page A4
August 16. 2006
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
Working to Truly Mobilize Against AIDS
Tragedy is that
we have far to go
P iiill W ilson
As a nation and a com ­
munity. we have com e a
long way in the 25 years
o f reeling under the on­
slaught o f AIDS. The
tragedy is that we still
have far, far to go if we are to bring
it under control.
In all sectors, we spent too many
o f the epidemic's early years caught
off guard as HIV w orm ed its way
into our lives. Scientists took years
to identify the virus that caused the
destruction - and 15 years to de­
velop medicine that gave people a
chance to continue living.
by
Political leaders were equally
slow to react: It was 1987 before
President Reagan bothered to ad ­
dress the nation about the carnage
his adm inistration c a l­
lously decided to ignore
and 1990 before C o n ­
gress bothered to create
a com prehensive system
to make care and treat­
ment affordable for the
p oorest A m erican s living w ith
AIDS.
As for black America, we are
arguably still w orking to truly m o­
bilize a defense against the virus.
For too many years, our com munity
— our leaders, our institutions and
o urselves — chose to act like AIDS
didn't m attertous. W ed id th isev en
as we w atched our brothers, sis­
ters, m others, fathers and children
get sick and die. And we did this
because o f our fear — fear o f the
people most immediately impacted,
fear o f engaging yet another m o­
mentous struggle for survival, fear
likely to die from it than our white
counterparts. And we are not short
on such diagnoses in black America.
Nearly half o f the estim ated one
million Americans living with HIV/
AIDS are black; more than half of
Our fear killed too many
black Americans, and
continues to do so today. fc
o f losing focus on the struggles we
were already engaged in.
O ur fear killed tix, many black
A m ericans and continues to do so
today.
African A m ericans diagnosed
with HIV are now eight times more
the estim ated -M).(MM) people newly
diagnosed with HIV each year are
black. Yet, we are 13 percent o f the
population.
T hese sim ple facts are unaccept­
able for a disease we know how to
both prevent and treat. But unless
we take action - as individuals and
asacom m unity - the blackening of
AIDS will grow more stark with
each year.
We call on the com m unity to
em brace proven HIV prevention
strategies; to save lives by access­
ing available treatm ents ourselves
and dem anding our governm ents
make those treatm ents truly acces­
sible to al I; and to finally discard the
debilitating bigotry, stigm a and
shame that fuels this epidem ic's
fire.
In many areas, we are beginning
to see such steps taken. The C on­
gressional Black C aucus and brave
state legislators around the coun­
try have picked up the mantle, driv­
ing governm ent to do something
about AIDS in black neighbor­
hoods. M any o f o u r civil rights and
com m unity leaders have com e to
see AID S as a crucial part o f their
broader work. O ur churches and
faith leaders are increasingly w ill­
ing and able to m inister not ju st to
their dying church mem bers but to
th eir living co m m u n ities about
sexual health and healing.
As individuals, we must all join
this building m ovem ent and work
to sa v eo u ro w n lives as well. AIDS
affects our people, which makes it
our problem and dem ands that we
find our own solutions. Let's no,
wait until it's too late. Let's make the
next 25 years into a story about how
we rose up and healed our com m u­
nities — and ourselves.
Phill Wilson is llie executive di­
rector o f the Black AIDS Institute.
A Lesson Learned
for Supporting War
Lieberman defeat
is a wake up call
by J udge
G reg M a i his
It’s been ov er three
y e a rs sin c e P re s id e n t
G eorge Bush ordered his
“Coalition o f the w illing"
into Iraq.
Hell bent on “dem ocra­
tizing” the middle-eastern
country, the president ig­
nored the w arnings o f the United N a­
tions and the rest o f the international
com m unity. Surprisingly, he
had the support o f the majority
o f Americans at the time. But
th at’s only because h e'd led
the country to falsely believe
Iraq was hiding weapons o f
mass destruction and was a
threat to our security.
M aybe th a t’s w hy many
Dem ocratic members o f C on­
gress also supported B ush’s
tunnel vision and voted with
Republicans to send troops into Iraq.
W hatever their reasons, they are now
locked in a battle with anti-w ar voters
who want to see the U.S. pull out of Iraq.
Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman is
the first casualty.
Lieberman lost the D em ocratic nom i­
nation last week for the Senate seat he’s
held for 18 years to Ned I .amont, a m ulti­
millionaire cable TV executive in the state’s
primary election. Lamont, also a D em o­
crat, cam paigned on one issue: the war.
New to the political game, he criticized
L ieberm an's support of the war, calling
him President Bush’s “lap dog.” It is no
surprise voters responded to this ap­
proach considering more than 6()-per-
cent o f Americans say they oppose the
w ar in Iraq. C onnecticut D em ocrats
turned out in larger than usual nu m ­
bers for the election. T he m essage they
sent is very clear: it is tim e for this w ar
to end and any politician that supports
it m ust go.
Since the war began. 2.592 Americans
have died and more than 19,000 have
been w ounded. At the current count, we
have spent more than $300 billion
on the war. The President has prom ­
ised to "bring our troops hom e” but
w ithout an exit plan, this seems
unlikely to happen in the near fu­
ture.
W ith other pressing social is­
sues - education and healthcare
am ong them - many progressive
A m ericans are growing increasingly up­
set with the resources that are being
Democrats must
stand on principle and
stop wavering in the
wind, taking middle
ground positions.
wasted on a w ar that many experts say
the U.S. cannot win.
The C onnecticut election was a wake
upcall to w ar-supporting Democrats. To
keeptheircurrentjobsand, in many cases,
to clim b up that political ladder, they'll
have to shift their priorities. D em ocrats
must stand on principle and stop w aver­
ing in the wind, taking middle ground
positions.
For those w ho reportedly aspire to
higher offices, like Sen. Hillary Clinton,
now is the tim e to move aw ay from the
center and take a definite anti-w ar stance.
Lieberman, a highly respected politician,
learned his lesson the hard way. For their
sakes, le t's hope more o f these war-sup-
porting Dem ocrats turn things around,
before it’s too late.
Judge Greg Mathis is national vice
president o f Rainbow PUSH and a na­
tional board member o f the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference.
200
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Global Warming Harmful to All
But hurts some more
C.J. C orrea B ernier
Environm ental problem s are becoming
the center o f international debate concern­
ing the future o f our planet. The range of
issues is extensive, bu, global warming
seems to be a com m on subject in most
co n versations.
The coexistence o f environm entalism
and econom ic developm ent and the need
for c o o p e ra tio n , fa irn e ss and eq u ity
am ong countries seem s to be one o f the
m ajor concerns.
We must keep in mind that the activities
o f hum an society on a broad scale are
harmful to all, but to som e more than o th­
ers. In the case o f global w arm ing, we will
suffer along with the planet, bu, for island
by
nations that will disappear and for indig­
enous com m unities, it is the literal destruc­
tion o f their environm ent, history, legacy
and lives.
In the United States, com m unities of
color are also drastically affected. A recent
report notes the disproportionate co-rela­
tion between African Am ericans in the
We must seek to
ensure the right o f all
people to live, work,
play, and pray in safe,
healthy, and clean
environments.
SEASONS
K E T
U.S. and climate change. The
report argues that African
A m ericans are less respon­
sible forclim ate change, but
suffer m ore from the health
impacts.
The existence o f a pat­
tern o f d isp ro p o rtio n a te
environm ental risk based on
race was first dem onstrated
in the U.S. in 1987. The ev i­
dence challenged the U.S.
environmental movement to
recognize its tendency to ignore issues o f
race, class and gender when setting agen­
das for social action.
Today the m ainstream environm ental
com m unity is involved in serious discus­
sions about how to frame eco-justice is­
sues along with those dealing with envi­
ronmental justice orenvironm ental racism.
The global environm ental justice m ove­
ment com pels us to rethink our under­
standing of environm ental problem s and
the proposals to solve them.
If we look at global warm ing as an issue
o f human rights and environm ental jus,ice
we will be able to see the connection.
Rising tem peratures are already affecting
the liv eso f million o f humans, particularly
in people o f color, low -incom e, and Indig­
enous com m unities.
The health o f many has been already
com prom ised by our econom ic growth.
As we talk, research and seek solutions
to our clim ate and energy problem s we
must seek to ensure the right o f all people
to live, work, play, and pray in safe, healthy,
and clean environm ents.
We m ust envision a transition to a fu­
ture that protects the most vulnerable from
the impacts o f clim ate change.
C.J. Correa Bernier is the Minister for
Environmental Justice fo r the United
Church o f Christ.
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