December 21, 2016
Page 7
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O PINION
Learn to Show Respect and Insist on It
One Black
Woman’s View
h eather M osley
What is the root of racism, the
cause of conflict, the answer to
anger? As we transition from our
nation’s first black president and
the dream of a post-racial Ameri-
ca to a man elected by supporters
that include Confederate battle
flag-wavers, I need to reflect on
my own journey to help myself
deal with it all.
I grew up in a family of six kids,
I’m the youngest, and was born
and raised in Portland. My mom
is black and native from Missis-
sippi, and my father was a strong
black man from Alabama. Both
were raised in the segregation era.
We were not raised to be violent
or racist and would get disciplined
if we showed any signs of it.
My mom said she never wor-
ried about people messing over
me even as a child. I was outspo-
ken and would defend myself if it
became necessary. I was a fairly
small child but came with a pow-
erful pack of energy. I never start-
ed any fights or picked on anyone,
by
and never played the bully role.
You would have to pick on me
first for me to go into action.
I was bussed out to all-white
schools through elementary and
high school. I can remember my
first day of school; my oldest sister
was getting me dressed to walk me
to catch the bus. The buses picked
us up from the black schools that
were in the neighborhood to take
took place when I was in the 3rd or
4th grade. I was the only black kid
in the classroom and a white girl
raised her hand and told the teach-
er her lunch bag was missing. She
believed I was the one who took
it. The teacher who was an older
white woman asked the class who
wanted to go search my stuff to see
if I had stolen it. All of a sudden, I
saw all the little white hands go up
my mom what had happened.
The next morning she, I, and
my dad headed to the school and
my parents were not happy. My
mom went into the principal’s of-
fice and explained how they were
not going to treat her child in any
disrespectful matter. My dad and I
sat outside the door and then I see
the teacher enter the principal’s
office. I will not repeat the words
I use constructive communication skills, take conflict
resolution classes, and get my point across where it does not
cause serious problems. I will continue to work on being
less aggressive, for I am a woman who carries herself in a
respectful manner and violence is not the answer.
us to the white schools. When my
sister was putting me on the bus
she said, “You better not let any-
one treat you differently or disre-
spect you just because of your col-
or.” I did not understand. I was too
young to understand about racism
but I surely learned.
There were about 10 of us black
kids who were bussed out to this
elementary school. To this day I
can remember this incident that
into the air. I remember thinking;
as soon as one comes towards me
I was going to sock them in their
face. One of the kids then said to
the girl who was missing her lunch,
isn’t that your bag over there on the
window ledge, and she said yes.
The class went back to normal with
no apology to me from the teacher
or the girl. I remember feeling so
degraded even at the young age I
was. That evening, I cried and told
I heard my mom saying to this
teacher. What I remember about
the incident is, the teacher no lon-
ger taught that class, my parents
and I were given a written apol-
ogy, and I’m not sure what other
actions may have ensued legally.
I continued, graduated from that
school, and had no more problems
that I could not handle on my own.
In this world I have seen and
faced a lot of unfair racial treat-
ment, and at times I have reacted
in anger. Yes, I would get up in
someone’s face and be ready to
handle the situation whichever
way it went. It never got physically
violent but certainly got verbally
violent. Over the years, I learned
the only person who suffered and
got hurt from handling racism this
way was me. I have been a work
in progress and have come a long
way from being aggressive. I have
learned how to approach the situa-
tion and voice my opinion without
hostility. I pray for strength from
God to show me, and I have noth-
ing to prove to anyone in a violent
way. Now, instead, I use construc-
tive communication skills, take
conflict resolution classes, and
get my point across where it does
not cause serious problems. I will
continue to work on being less ag-
gressive, for I am a woman who
carries herself in a respectful man-
ner and violence is not the answer.
In the coming period, I pray we all
reflect and respect and learn to over-
come our inner aggressions. We will
need this, I suspect, together.
Heather Mosley is a returning
college student. (Distributed by
PeaceVoice.)
AIDS: Envisioning the Beginning of the End
Daunting
challenges
remain
M arC h. M orial
On June 5, 1981,
the Centers for Disease
Control published its
weekly Morbidity and
Mortality Report which
described five cases
of previously healthy,
young gay men in Los Angeles
infected with a rare lung infec-
tion. It would eventually become
recognized as the first official re-
port on HIV/AIDS in the United
States.
Since the start of the epidem-
ic, an estimated 35 million peo-
ple have died from AIDS-relat-
ed illnesses around the globe.
In the United States alone, more
than 700,000 people have died
an AIDS death since the begin-
ning of the epidemic. Thirty-five
years ago, testing HIV positive
was an automatic death sentence,
but today, as a result of targeted
HIV prevention efforts, rapid test-
ing, advances in treatment and
increased access to life-saving
by
health care, what was once a death
sentence is now, in many cases, a
chronic disease that can be lived
with and managed.
Today, more than 1.2 million
people in the United States
are living with HIV, ac-
cording to the CDC. New
infections are down from
their peaks in the 80s and
90s, with the CDC esti-
mating that new HIV di-
agnoses have fallen by 19
percent from 2005 to 2014.
and socioeconomic disparities.
African Americans and Latinos
continue to bear the dispropor-
tionate burden of HIV infection in
our nation.
In 2015, African Americans,
who represent 12 percent of the
U.S. population, accounted for 45
percent of HIV diagnoses. While
Latinos, who represent 18 percent
of the U.S. population, accounted
for 24 percent of HIV diagno-
ses. Regionally, the South is ex-
periencing the highest infection
ship and commitment that ampli-
fies our impact in all communities
ravaged by this disease. It is also a
vivid reminder that health, health
care, disease and its dissemination
and eradication do not exist in a
cultural or social vacuum.
The link between health, social
and economic equity and our vi-
sion of an AIDS-free generation is
real and borne out by the shocking
rate of HIV/AIDS in communities
of color and vulnerable popula-
tions. Given the disproportionate
As we celebrate those numbers, we must keep in mind
that the epidemic is far from over and that our progress
in combating this disease has been uneven and remains
riddled with all-too-familiar racial and socioeconomic
disparities.
The death rate from AIDS-related
illnesses has dropped by 30 per-
cent, approaching our nation’s
2020 target rate.
As we celebrate those numbers,
we must keep in mind that the epi-
demic is far from over and that our
progress in combating this disease
has been uneven and remains rid-
dled with all-too-familiar racial
rates, illness and deaths than any
other U.S. region, with the South-
ern states accounting for close to
half—an estimated 44 percent—
of all people living with an HIV
diagnosis in the United States.
For those of us on the front lines
of the battle versus this epidemic,
these numbers are a call to action
to put an end to HIV with leader-
impact of the epidemic in com-
munities of color, effectively ad-
dressing HIV/AIDS in the United
States also means addressing pov-
erty and a lack of access to health
care.
The National Urban League
and its affiliates continue to part-
ner with organizations and groups
working to decrease and defeat
HIV/AIDS in the hardest hit pop-
ulations. League affiliates have
joined the Act Against AIDS
Leadership Alliance. As a part of
the compact, more than 500 HIV
related events and trainings have
taken place. As a member of PACT
(Partnering and Communicating
Together to Act Against AIDS),
we work on achieving the goals of
the National HIV/AIDS Strategy
(NHAS) by reducing HIV infec-
tions, improving health outcomes
for people living with HIV and
reducing HIV related disparities.
Here is a final sobering statistic:
1 in 8 people living with HIV in
the United States are unaware of
their status. We cannot fight what
we don’t know. We need leader-
ship from service providers, ad-
vocates, doctors and government
officials, but all of us, have a role
to play on the journey towards an
AIDS-free generation.
Protect yourself and reduce
the risk of spreading HIV, or any
STD, by getting tested and know-
ing your status. We must all com-
mit to keeping our communities
healthy.
Marc H. Morial is president
and chief executive officer of the
National Urban League.