Newspapers / Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.) / Dec. 9, 2000, edition 1 / Page 4
Part of Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
w e ( PAGE 4 ▼ Q'Notes ▼ December 9, 2000 Central TATION Free Pool 7 Days A Week 5:00 — 8:00pm Open 5:00pm - 2:00am Every Day ®5°° Yearly Membership Required. Never A Cover At The Door! SPECIALS Monday & Tuesday: Domestic Beer *1“ Wednesday: Domestic Beer, House Drinks Thursday: °° Can Budweiser Friday: Coors Light, ®2°° Rum & Coke Saturday: ^1 Rolling Rock, ®2°° Screwdrivers Sunday: House Drinks Pool Tournament Every Thursday with *50 Cash Prize Central Station 2131 Central Ave. • Charlotte (704) 377-0906 A community divided: my two cents by Jerry E. Rice, Jr. Special to Q-Notes Columbia, SC has the fourth highest rate of AIDS infection in the country. The State, the South Carolina capital’s daily newspaper, reported in a November 12 article that Richland County has had 2,908 cases through June 2000, with'251 new cases in 1999. Of the 16,108 documented HIV/AIDS cases in South Carolina, blacks represented 1 1,439, nearly 71 percent. Of infected men, twice as many are black, and more than 80 perecent of infected women are black. Written by a white journalist, the article gave a wonderfully , r- n • r slanted view of what Jerry E. Rice, Jr. , r the acceptance or gays is like in the black community. It discussed the difficulty of educating gay men who have no connection to the gay community. It de tailed the number of men who enter South Carolina’s prison system straight, yet engage in homosexual activity. It spoke of non-accepting families and BIble-beating pastors. It even talked about black women who know their husbands are gay, but live in ongoing denial. Let me make my perspective clear: As an openly gay African American male who is' HIV negative, this article disturbed the very core of my soul. I am originally from the Palmeyo State, and these numbers do not surprise me. I know first hand what it is like to be black and gay. It is not easy. It is true that the black community deals with homosexuality much differently than our white brothers and sisters — I dare not discuss the subject with ninety percent of my family. It is true that the majority of the cases in South Carolina are in the African-American commu nity. It is true that some black men do not feel safe enough to come out. However, I think the imperative question is “why?” South Carolina — the state with the second lowest standardized testing scores in the nation. South Carolina — a state that is proudly represented in the Senate by Strom Thurmond. I think that this should be a wake up call not only for the people of South Carolina, but for people throughout America. Education is the only way to effectively stop the spread of HIV. The South Carolina Depart ment of Corrections has a policy against the distribution of condoms in their prisons. People are being infected everyday because of this bla tant form of “sweeping the problem under the carpet.” As far as I am concerned, the SC De partment of Corrections is killing people. Ev eryone who is reading this article who has some shred of human intelligence knows that homo sexual activity occurs in every prison in the nation. Therefore, the Department of Correc tions policy is killing people. Period. Everyone with any political awareness also knows that the majority of every prison population are people of color. The article quoted a prison worker who has found the fingers cut off of latex gloves as inmates attempted to protect themselves. This is ridiculous and shameful. The problems around the treatrhent of gay folk in the black community are not really sepa rate from the problems around the treatment of black folk in the gay community. The prob lem is that we all have to move beyond the “us and them” mentality. As one white man from Arkansas said, upon being elected President of the United States in 1992, “There is no them — there is only us.” What are we doing to solve the problem? Look at the gay community in Charlotte, North Carolina. I have. Having only lived in our great city for nine months, I have been saddened by the lack of diversity in our community. Often at “community” functions, the same handful of people of color make up the minority repre sentation. I have often asked, “Have we reached out to the communities of color in our area?” I have been told “yes, but to no avail.” I did not believe this until recently, when a See COMMUNITY on page 9 Serving the Financial Needs of Gay Men and Lesbians At American Express Financial Advisors, we want to make our commitment to gay men and lesbians clear. Just as we have extended domestic partner benefits to all our lesbian and gay employees worldwide, it is our goal to provide sound financial advice specifically tailored for the unique issues affecting our lesbian and gay clients. Sound financial planning for: • Investments • Estate Planning • Tax Management • Risk Protection Retirement Domestic Partners Call today for your complimentary consultation. American Express Financial Advisors Inc. Financial Advisors Lynn Davidson, CFP Advanced Advisor Group 16507 Northcross Drive Huntersville. NC 28078 (704) 896-0897 11997 American Express Financial Corporation VINSON WASHBURN REALTOR‘S OFFICE 704.342.1000 HOME 704.364.6139 EMAIL vwashburn@hotniail.com DICKENS &ASSOCIATES MITCHENER 2330 RANDOLPH ROAD CHARLOTTE, NC 28207 FAX: 704.342.1022 , ■ MOBILE: 704.451.4952 DIRECT: 704.602.4246 m.
Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 9, 2000, edition 1
4
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75