'Sugar daddy' syndrome may be spreading AIDS

In the past Mary Mitchell has written about the AIDS crisis in the black community. She has also written about the problem of down-low brothers. Let me explain what that means. A down-low brother is a man who is vain about who and what he is so he resorts to sneaking around. He has a girlfriend just to keep up appearances but on the side he also has a boyfriend and engages in intercourse. He may also engage in intercourse with his girlfriend. The consequences of this is that it is possible that he is engaging in intercouse with either partner WITHOUT protection. In other words, he may pass on to his partners an STD. It could be HIV/AIDS.

This phenomenon is a result of black cultural standards. Most of us go to church and we don't approve of gays. On top of that plenty of black guys don't like gays and will find ways to harrass them or really play the part of an very masculine male. Or they'll sleep with as many women as possible just tp prove it. What ever the case it is more taboo in black America than it would be in other quarters of America. The sad thing is this selfish activity is changing everyone's life for the worst.

This is an important subject in Atlanta where I go to school. Last year there was a program which discussed this. I go to Morehouse College an all-male school and you can only imagine that this may go on here especially since there is an all-girls school and a coed institution within walking distance of each other. Someone has probably been affected by this new crisis.

Well I can't say I know much about this so I should do more research on this. But Ms. Mitchell talks about "sugar daddies". Now this isn't touching upon the down-low syndrome but it does touch upon what's going on in Africa. In Africa it is believed that you can cure yourself of AIDS but having sex with a virgin. The thing is your not cured and you've merely spread the disease.

They did say that one black woman profiled in the Chicago Reporter was diagnosed as having AIDS and she found out later her husband was sleeping with another man.

Here are some statics about the AIDS epidemic amongst blacks:

African Americans account for 12 percent of the population in the United
States, but make up 72 percent of all newly reported HIV infections and over 50
percent of all AIDS diagnoses -- and it is the leading cause of death among
African-American women ages 25-34.

And African-American men accounted for about 50 percent of the
estimated 41,000 new AIDS cases among adults, and AIDS was the leading cause of
death for African-American men between the ages of 25 to 54.

Mary Mitchell on the point of the Sugar Daddies who have ways of effectively buying younger women, she makes a valid point.

In other words, if African women had more control over their lives, they wouldn't risk their lives for the gifts offered by older men.

If that's true, then what's our excuse?

I may come back to this issue later. There are a lot of crazy things going on in Africa right now, however, I would like to do some research on these issues as well. In the meanwhile read Mitchell's column.

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