Do you think that AIDS was made for the minorities in order to keep them away from caucasians?

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pohnpei397's profile pic

pohnpei397 | College Teacher | (Level 3) Distinguished Educator

Posted on

While I can see how minorities (and African Americans in particular) could be suspicious of the government, I do not give any credence to the idea that AIDS was created to harm minorities or to keep us (I’m not white, though I’m not African American either) away from white people.

It is clearly true that the US government has been willing to do terrible things to African Americans in the name of science.  The Tuskegee syphilis experiments were proof of this.  It is also true that white American individuals were once willing to go to great lengths to prevent interracial romances. 

Even so, I do not find it credible that the government would have created AIDS for this reason.  First, I simply do not think the government has been capable of evil on that scale since the end of slavery.  Second, and perhaps more importantly, AIDS is a pretty ineffective tool for preventing interracial relationships.  The fact that it is not likely to strike monogamous couples who do not use intravenous drugs means that AIDS would be a really bad way to try to prevent interracial relationships from occurring. 

durbanville's profile pic

durbanville | High School Teacher | (Level 2) Educator Emeritus

Posted on

It may be true that some irresponsible scientists were careless with a vaccine in Africa in the 1950s and that a monkey may have been the source of the original virus but to think that AIDS

acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)

could have been purposely engineered to kill anybody is far too terrible a circumstance to consider, isn't it?!

It seems to me that AIDS was around before it became the "gay" disease of the early 1980s but it was unrecognized or unpublished and people died from unknown causes or other flu-type symptoms. The virus

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

was only named in 1983 when the specific virus itself was identified. I still remember the news of Rock Hudson admitting to having it.  

It was really thought to affect so-called "gay" people ONLY, mainly men and had many a smug heterosexual sitting back and thinking they were safe. So, if it was targeting anyone, it would have been gay and lesbian people wouldn't it?

As we advance technologically and medically and nutritionally there are disadvantages which we do not foresee and things happen to us that we would never have contemplated. Sometimes vaccines themselves cause death as scientists struggle to meet expectations and provide "cure-alls."

Who would have thought that humans could contract  swine flu or  bird or avian flu but they did and people died? Mad cow disease? And foot and mouth disease seems to make an appearance fairly regularly. Swine flu was around early in the twentieth century but still took us by surprise in the twenty first century!

It is unfortunate that there are more "Africans" with AIDS worldwide( and in countries where Africans are not minorities) but this may be due to cultural, rural, locational and other factors. Developing countries or people from them may be more at risk because AIDS attacks the immune system so if it is weakened - from hunger, poverty, etc- it may take hold in a person who is compromised.

Let us hope that a definitive cure has been developed (but it's too soon to tell) or a breakthrough is imminent and let's keep encouraging governments to pay for anti-retrovirals and to continue with education programs so we can minimize the effects of this terrible disease.

And a heartfelt congratulations to those people who fight this disease daily whether themselves or a family member!   


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