I stumbled across the following posted on Facebook and I wanted to grab some feedback from you readers… so please, weigh in your thoughts.
“Apparently, the CDC published a report that said 48% of Black women have herpes. Ordinarily, I would believe that statistic and be astonished by it, but we cannot always trust numbers and statics to be facts. The fact is, because of historical misconceptions about sexual promiscuity in Black women that dates back to Europeans first encounters with Africans (much earlier than the beginning of American Slavery) doctors test Black women (even without consent) far more frequently than white women (for further examining of the misconception and sexual stereotyping of Black women and our sexuality Patricia Hill Collins is an excellent resource) automatically producing numbers that could be skewed. In DC, I have only seen mobile HIV Rapid Testing vans in low income neighborhoods. So if our white counterparts aren’t being tested and aren’t being targeted in their communities, can we really trust this alarming statistic that states nearly half of us have genital herpes? How many Black women did they use to create this statistic? Are they including Black women of higher socioeconomic statuses or just using those in targeted demographics such as low income communities? Also, aren’t white women that sleep with Black men at just a high of a risk? But if a white woman goes to her physician, due to preconceived notions of her being “clean” or “pure”, she may not be asked to consider taking a test (which doctors often ask to their Black patients). I’m not saying the numbers are untrue, but the numbers cannot always speak for themselves. Are these numbers coming from a study population that is targeted or really an unbiased general population? I know what I think, but hey it’s food for thought…either way we have to do better. In the words of the great, DR. Martin Luther King Jr., an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
