But, did any of y'all happen to catch this article?
Ok, I'm going to need y'all's patience while I put on my tinfoil hat.
*Crackling foil.*
All right, now as I read that article it occurred to me that it seems fairly weird that a super deadly virus whose origins are still hazy would disproportionately affect black people because of protections we've developed for centuries.
I know, I know, it's not polite to toss around conspiracy theories, but, doesn't anybody else just find that a wee bit suspicious?
Anybody?
Somebody?
*Removes tinfoil hat and hides it behind back.*
Even crazy people are right sometimes.
Hat tip to Ben Atkinson for hipping me to the story
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9 comments:
Wow. Shit. Well, on the bright side for me, it will make at least one of the upcoming plotlines in my novel seem a lot less far-fetched now...
hmmm....
I'ma have to wait a day before I post another blog, I've posted two in one day and that's enough. Because trust me, I have a lot to say about this one.
Also, I think it's interesting that this article got published by writing "Aids" as though it were a noun and not an acronym.
So, Big Man, does that make Rev. Wright less crazy?!?!?! Come on now, you can't just throw his name out there and not give your opinion about it, lol.
JLL
I'm an African American public health professional and this has been speculated about for a while. The question about genetic susceptability or immunity to certain diseases like HIV has been seriously studied for at least five years now, since the mapping of the human genome.
The study to look for genetic susceptability of HIV was conducted on gay mostly white males who survived the 1980's AIDS crisis in the gay community. Scientists wanted to know if there was a possible genetic reason for why some gay men didn't contract HIV. The results were pretty staggering. The men who survived had a genetic marker that Europeans developed to survive the black plague just as Africans developed genes to survive malaria. Every living person of European or African lineage are the offspring of people who survived the black plague or malaria respectively. The flip side is that these genetic mutations can have side effects like sickle-cell anemia or being far less resistant to diseases from other regions.
Many of these gay men hade what appeared to be an immunity to HIV. If some people can be immune to a disease others can be more susceptable. The Native Americans and small pox and influenza are a good example of this. Small pox and influenza decimated Native populations because they had little exposure to domestic live stock like cows and birds that would have allowed them to build genetic protections against animal diseases.
I know our people and all of the African diaspora has been through a lot of shit but I have to say, I don't buy that HIV was made specifically to kill black people. If so it was a dumb plan. If you're going to wage bilological warfare you use something to kill people quick. People with HIV/AIDS can live to damn long if you're trying t get people out of the way. And people of African descent have been found to live longer on average then other people with HIV/AIDS. A disease that works like small pox or the black plague,something airborn or doesn't require fluid transfer would have been far more effective. So even if Rev Wright is correct and there is a conspiracy genetics is still most likely the cause of it's effectiveness and ultimately the possible cure.
I also think all of this focusing on conspiracies is counter productive anyway. If we are more susceptable that's fucked up, but we still need to act accordingly. White people not liking or doing harm to black people is nothing new. We need to get serious about what we do to harm ourselves. And from what I've seen in my career we do plenty of harm to ourselves.
If you are not already do these things and the AIDS crisis in our community will change dramatically for the better: Use condoms, stay faithful and monogamous or keep your damn legs closed and your pants zipped until a person who you really care about comes along. And even if you're married get tested every 6 months. Put your significant other on notice so even if they do cheat they might have enough respect for you or themselves to use condoms.
Oh and don't do hard drugs, have sex with people who do and stay out of jail. Men fuck each other in prison. The numbers are at 40% and those are the ones's who admitted it. Sistas if you're dating a man who has been in jail for years he won't admit that shit to you. He will not tell you he fucked or got fucked by another man. No Way In Hell. Make no mistake the disproprtionate number of our men in jail has a lot to do with this and every health professional who works in HIV/AIDS prevention knows it. "Have you been in jail for longer than 72 hours?" is a frequently asked question in clinics who do AIDS testing.
Peace.
That's some fairly scary shit.
I watched a film in my bio class recently about nigerian prositutes having a natural resistance....
look into it brotha.
Wow...
-OG
Anon
Thank you very, very much for your comment. I really appreciated your take on the issue.
Thanks and I really appreciate your blog. I got turned on to it while reading Andrew Sullivan's blog a few months back. Keep up the good work and I'll keep reading.
On one hand, I think there's merit to the argument that the Duffy-negative gene that protected some of our ancestors from malaria could also make ones carrying this gene more susceptible to HIV infection.
This doesn't out rule the possibility that it was cooked up in a lab to take advantage of us. Years ago the Chinese said they thought this; wish I had that link.
Another story that made the London Times (I think) in the very late 90s was that the a group was trying to develop a virus that would only target Arabs. Because they are genetic cousins to Jews, the project was scrapped. Is it true? Who knows, it's disappeared.
I also find it bizarre that for all the cases of bird flu I've seen, I've yet to see it harm Africans. There's the continent with the least amount of medical resources and one would think the most vulnerable for an epidemic.
Finally, why are there
500,000 coffins in the middle of Georgia?
Big Man,
You are hilarious!! *LOL*
@ K.I.T.
I have an answer... cloud seeding...? A planned catastrophe...
Hmmmmmph. Y'all betta recognize!
Lisa
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