December 19. 2007
Page A4
O pinion
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
HIV/AIDS Hits Close to Home
Get over the fears and get treatment
by M arc H .
M orial
son, executive director o f The
Black AIDS Institute in Los An
geles w ho has been H IV -posi
tive for more than a quarter o f a
century. He makes an im pas
sio n e d
p le a
on
th e
o rg an iz atio n 's W eb site for
blacks to “get over" their fears
and "get on" with treatment.
In the Urban League m ovement,
23 o f our affiliates have programs
aimed at reducing the risk o f trans
mission of the disease within the
b lack co m m u n ity . T h e U rban
League ofG reaterO klahom a runs a
program designed to increase HIV/
AID s aw areness am ong ex-offend
ers and senior citizens.
Further south, our Dallas affili
ate offers an AIDS prevention pro
gram that has served 1,200 minority
youths between the ages of 12 and
19 and show s them how tocut high-
risk behaviors attributable to the
use o f drugs and alcohol and how
to have safe sex. am ong other
things. The affiliate also offers a
program for drug-using adults over
18 that has served 925 people. And
the U rban League o f H am pton
Road provides case-m anagem ent
services to minorities diagnosed
with HIV/AIDS to improve thequal-
ity and length o f their lives.
African A m ericans cannot wait
around for the governm ent and/or
society to com e to their rescue and
save them from HIV/AIDS. The
black com m unity must look within
itself to resolve this crisis.
"W hen we have the courage to
take action, we see results. When we
wait for others to come to our rescue,
well... can anyone one say New O r
leans or Katrina?" Wilson notes.
H e’s got a point. Solving this
crisis starts with encouraging all
blacks to get tested and treated, if
necessary. In the Words o f W ilson,
"get over it and get on with it."
World AIDS Day re
cently served to remind
us of the global as well
as local health problem
o f H IV/AIDS. Major
progress has been made
in terms of medical treat
ment prolonging the lives o f AIDS
victims and those with HIV. but the
disease is still alive and well in the
world as well as the United States,
especially among blacks.
The U nited Nations estim ates
that 25 million people have died o f
AIDS w orldwide since AIDS first
reared its ugly head in the United
States in 1981.
In our nation’s capital, the D is
trict o f Colum bia, one in 20 D.C.
residents are estim ated to have HIV
and one in 50 to have AIDS. Not
quite the one in eight rate o f South
Africa but give them a few decades.
According to a recent D.C. re
port, 12,500 District o f Colum bia
residents have HIV or AIDS. O f the
3,300 new cases betw een 200 1 and
2(X)6,80 percent were among A fri
can-Am erican and 37 percent con
tracted through heterosexual sex.
Overall, AIDS cases increased 43
percent - epidem ic levels, setting
o ff alarm bells am ong blacks and
public health officials.
Part o f the reason why African-
A m ericans are reluctant to get
tested is the perceived stigm a of
having HIV or AIDS. That bears
out to some extent in the District o f
Columbia, where over 70 percent of
D.C. residents with HIV, a dispro
portionate num ber o f them black,
waited too long to be tested and
saw their HIV turn into AIDS within
a year o f diagnosis. That com pares
to 39 percent nationwide.
W hen was the last tim e you got
tested for HIV 7 Ha ve you ever been
tested? If not, shame on you.
“Knowing your HIV status is a
Mare H. Morial is president and
fundamental responsibility for ev chief executive officer o f the Na
ery black person,” writes Phill W il tional Urban League
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-sN \N SXJ. NO
Finally, a Step Toward Racial Justice
BY J I l)GE
G rec M athis
Battle isn’t over
Passed in the m id-1980s, fed
eral drug-sentencing laws forced
judges to deliver fixed sentences
to individuals convicted o f adrug-
related offense, regardless of their
direct role in the crim e orcircu m -
stances surrounding the event.
The laws dem onstrated a clear
bias tow ards offenders convicted
in crack-cocaine related cases,
many o f w hom were African-
American and from impoverished,
urban neighborhoods. A little
over 20 years later, the Suprem e
Court has issued a ruling that gives
judges much more pow er when sen
tencing drug offenders.
W ith this new freedom , judges
can use their influence to encour
age rehabilitation and education,
saving taxpayers billions and turn-
i ng around the lives o f many young
people o f color.
Ten years after the sentencing
laws w ere enacted, the average fed
eral drug sentence for A frican-
A m ericans was 49 percent higher
than that o f w hites, the num ber o f
w omen in prison for drug offenses
increased by 4 2 1 percent and there
was a more th a n 80 percent increase
in the federal prison population.
U nder the previous law, a dealer
with five grams o f crack cocaine re
ceived the same punishment as one
V /z,?
who had 500 gram s o f pow der co
caine; a 100-to-1 disparity. Support
ers o f the inequitable sentencing
claimed crack cocaine was more dan
gerous than pow der cocaine and
should therefore com e with stricter
sentences. Studies later showed that
crack cocaine was no more danger
ous than powdered cocaine.
The recent Suprem e Court ruling
says the federal sentencing guide
lines should be used to advise
judges, not bind them to sentences
that are clearly unfair.
T he guidelines are now but one
factor trial ju d g es have to consider
when handing dow n a sentence.
Judges are now able to reduce
prison sentences for crack cocaine
related crim es, ending a tw o-de
cades long racially biased sentenc
ing policy that put thousands of
black men behind bars, limiting their
futures and w eakening the black
family and com m unity.
W ith this ruling, the Suprem e
Court has taken a first step tow ards
racial justice. The battle, how ever,
is not over. Congress m ust w ork to
m onitor the n atio n 's courts and
ensure that sentencing across the
country is equitable. If disparities
arefound, then new la w s -fa irla w s
- m ust be crafted. W hile there is
still w ork to be done, this is a posi
tive first step tow ards a balanced
and fair crim inal justice system.
Judge Greg Mathis is national
vice president o f Rainbow PUSH
and a national board member o f
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
fe te ? '
éZetter tfi tiw(3Lditc>r Ig n o r in g In te llig e n c e
"Keep Alive The Dream "
Tribute to: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
WHO?
Invited S peakers: Governor Ted Kulongoski, Mayor Tom Potter.
Commissioner Ted Wheeler, Carole Smith, Superintendent (PPS),
Dr. W.G. Hardy, Jr., Dr. Charles Schlimpert, Senators Avel Gordly and
Senator Margaret Carter, Bishop Grace Osborne
F eatured A rtist: Jefferson Dancers, Linda Hornbuckle, Janice Scroggins,
NW Gospel Community Choir, Eugene Blackmon and Chosen Generation,
where ?
Highland C enter
7600N.E.Glisan,
Portland, Oregon
Janice Flowers-Hopkins, Battle Ground High School Jazz Band, DaNell
Dayman & Royalty, Gospel Music Workshop of America, Highland Christian
Church Choir, Gospel Crew (U ofO), Goldie Irby. Danny Osborne & Time
Sound Ensemble, Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing Arts Ensemble, Jefferson
High Oospel Ensemble, Kukatowon (Woodlawn Elementary School), Boise
Elementary Choir, Aaron Meyer, Vancouver Ave. First Baptist Church,
If there is anything we should our president will listen to the with us about it.
Stephen Hadley, National Se
have learned by going into Iraq, intelligence that is offered to
it is that we must not presume him by others and will be honest curity Advisor, has stated that
Bush was told in August or Sep-
temberthat we have intelligence
indicating that Iran had halted
its weapons program, and in
fact that apparently happened
in 2003!
This means that our president
is pushing us into war with Iran,
while ignoring the intelligence
been given, just as he did
22 Years on the Corner he's
when he convinced us we
Thanks Chuck Hinton
needed to invade Iraq!
Whether our president is sim
Portland Style BBQ
ply lying in order to once again
convince us, or simply believes
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are well paid to find out, we
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