December 25, 2013
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Page 7
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New Weapon in the Fight against AIDS
Health reform law makes sure there’s help
by
M arc H. M orial
aceess to antiretroviral treatment ex
The 25th observance
pands.”
of World AIDS Day
Here in the United States, a little more
was held this month. It
than a million Americans are living with
was a reminder of how
HIV infection today. Partly because of
far we have come since
longer life expectancies for people with
1981 when several pre
HIV, over the past decade, the number of
viously healthy gay
people living with the infection in the U.S.
men in Los Angeles were found to be has increased, while the annual number of
infected with a mysterious and fatal im new HIV infections has remained stable.
mune deficiency.
But we should not mistake better man
In the three decades since, the disease ageability of the disease as an indication
has claimed more than 35 million lives and that it has become a minor problem. The
has become a global pandemic. The World pace of new infections continues at far
Health Organization reports that 35.3 mil too high a level - particularly among gay
lion people worldwide are living with HIV men, African Americans and Latinos. Änd
today.
African Americans continue to experi
But, according to the United Nations, ence the most severe burden of HIV,
“New HIV infections among adults and compared with other races and ethnicities.
children were estimated at 2.3 million in
Blacks represent approximately 14 per
2012, a 33 percent reduction since 2001... cent of the U.S. population, but according
AIDS-related deaths have also dropped to the latest statistics from the Centers for
by 30 percent since the peak in 2005 as Disease Control and Prevention, they ac-
count for an estimated 44 percent of new
HIV infections and nearly half (44 per
cent) of people living with HIV infection.
Since the epidemic began, more than
260,800 blacks have died of AIDS. Un
less the course of the epidemic changes,
at some point in their lifetime, an esti
mated 1 in 16 black men and 1 in 32 black
women will be diagnosed with HIV infec
tion.
But more help than ever before is avail
able, including new benefits in the Afford
able Care Act that remove barriers to
insurance coverage, and provide better
coverage options for many people living
with HIV.
Starting Jan. 1, no one can be denied
health insurance or charged more be
cause of a pre-existing health condition,
such as HIV. Insurers will also no longer
be allowed to limit how much they will
spend on a person’s medical care - over
a year or a lifetime, including people living
with HIV. And plans sold through the
health insurance marketplaces must pro
vide a minimum set of benefits that should
prove helpful for HIV care, including
prescription drugs, doctor visits, hospital
care, mental health care and certain pre
ventive services, including HIV tests.
The National Urban League also re
mains a major source of help. We are a
partner organization in the Act Against
AIDS Leadership Initiative, a network of
national-level organizations that focus on
African Americans, black men who have
sex with men, and the Latino community.
Launched in 2009 by CDC and the
White House, leadership initiative is a five-
year national campaign to combat com
placency about HIV and AIDS in the
United States. Urban League affiliates
around the country also offer HIV aware
ness services and campaigns in their local
communities.
While much progress has been made,
the fight against AIDS is not over.
‘Marc H. Morial is president and chief
executive officer o f the National Urban
League.
Highly Offensive, Dishonorable, and Shameful
Sarah Palin’s red
meat for
conservatives
She selected these incendiary words
knowing they were “red meat” to the
conservative audience attending
last m onth’s “Faith and Freedom
Rally.”
Being a megalomaniac, Palin
by B entley de
knew what words would electrify
B ardelaben
her audience. When interviewed
“It’s [going to] be like
days later by CNN correspondent
slavery when that note is
Jake Tapper, Palin insisted her un
due. Right?” shouts former Alaskan Gov. derstanding of the definition for slavery
Sarah Palin at a conservative fundraiser in was correct. She further insisted some
Iowa.
African Americans would be offended
The note to which the 2008 VP can only if they “choose to misinterpret
didate was referring is the debt the what it is that [she] is saying.”
United States annually accum ulates
Pitifully, she is wrong. I am offended
when borrow ing m oney from other because she arrogantly chose to invoke
countries, China in particular. She goes terms which embody the horrific, de
on to say, “We are going to be beholden hum anizing, and race-based N orth
to a foreign master because there is no American institution of chattel slavery
plan to stop the incurrence of debt” out to make her point when she could have
of Washington, D.C. policy makers.
easily selected another.
As an American of African descent,
When offered the opportunity to se
I took offense to a few of the phrases in lect a different word, she said, “no!”
Palin’s speech, such as “not racist”, She then proceeded to blame the de
“like slavery” and “foreign m aster.” scendants of those who were enslaved
ìl?' JfJorttanìi (Obserurr
P u blish er :
E d ito r :
Established 1970
Mark Washington, Sr.
M ich a el L eig h to n
E xecutive D irector :
Rakeem Washington
C reative D irector :
P aul N e u feld t
O ffice M anager /C iassifieds : Lucinda
for misinterpreting her.
What could she be thinking? Only a
person with “white privilege” would
dare make such an ignorant statement.
Scholar and author Peggy McIntosh,
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invis
ible Knapsack, wrote in her ground
breaking work, “Whites are carefully
taught not to recognize white privilege,
as males are taught not to recognize
male privilege. So I have begun in an
untutored way to ask what it is like to
have white privilege. I have come to see
white privilege as an invisible package
of unearned assets that I can count on
cashing in each day, but about which I
was ‘m eant’ to remain oblivious.”
This is P alin’s offense, an unac
knowledged, unexamined sense of en
titlement.
Because her 15 minutes are long gone,
she desired to make a way back into the
spotlight. Most egomaniacs and carni
val barkers look for attention grabbing
tactics. She found one.
USPS 959-680
Unfortunately, like others before her,
Palin chose to reenter the public square
while riding the backs of the victim s’ of
institutional slavery and their descen
dants as if she were a queen to be
revered and worshipped.
Such an act is highly offensive, dis
honorable, and shameful.
Governor Palin, instead of merely
penning my displeasure, I offer a sug
gestion. Google M cIntosh’s piece, read
it, and then attempt to work through
some of the steps provided so that you
may begin to remove your knapsack.
The United Church o f Christ has
worked for decades to help people with
white privilege begin a journey toward
liberation. They have additional tools
online to assist you further if needed.
Visit ucc.org/justice/racism.
For future reference, if you begin a
sentence with a disclaimer, “This isn’t
racist, but...” Trust me, it is.
Bentley de Bardelaben is an executive
with Justice and Witness Ministries in the
United Church o f Christ.
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