United States. What has been the role of the African-American Church during the AIDS crisis ?

HIV Positive, Church Negative

By Abigail Garcia (Diatribe Collective)

AIDS is still widely considered a gay man’s disease despite the fact that the fastest growing group of HIV-positive people are women.

In New York City, AIDS was the number one killer of black women between the ages of 19 and 27 in 1990. Nationally, by 1992, African American women acquired AIDS at a rate 14 times higher than white women ; for African American men the rate is three times higher than white men.

The number of HIV cases is skyrocketing in the intravenous drug using community. Among prostitutes, the virus spreads fastest among those who are working to support a crack habit. Many women who "turn tricks" for crack instead of money are in a state of denial and do not use condoms as a precaution.

Educational outreach and condom distribution, as well as teaching drug addicts how to clean their needles, or offering a free "needle exchange" program, have proved effective in reducing the rate of HIV transmission. For instance, prostitutes in Zaire were given condoms and free treatment for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s) and their annual incidence of HIV infection decreased from 18% to 3% in just two years.

Unfortunately, this type of outreach and intervention has not been provided by the single most influential resource in black communities in the U.S. : The Black Church. The vast majority of black churches have been silent on the issue of HIV and AIDS. Since education and awareness have decreased the spread of HIV, churches should take major steps in providing support and education to HIV-positive people and their families.

At best, the majority of mainstream American churches have avoided the issues surrounding HIV. At worst, they have barred HIV- infected people (including children) from participating in their organizations. Some churches have gone so far as declaring AIDS a punishment of sins.

Across the board, however, the attitude implies that people with HIV have created this situation for themselves ; thus, the church feels justified in denying community outreach. Although some churches are willing to provide individual "counseling" services, their reluctance to publicly offer outreach to either the congregation or the greater community, reinforces the belief that HIV is a moral issue and not a health issue. Congregation members who are either infected, or know someone who is, are likely to feel alienated and afraid. Ultimately, the burden of pain and shame is carried by one or two people alone.

A church that is involved in the community can have an impact on reversing the growth of HIV transmission. The ways in which this can be accomplished is through awareness, attitude change and behavior change. These three steps are an important part of the educational process and should come in that order.

The church’s downfall has been its failure to overlook the vital steps of "awareness" and "attitude change" regardless of what it teaches. Silence creates a climate conducive to the spread of HIV in the African-American community.

Generally, in this country, social services, health care and education (three elements necessary for slowing the spread of HIV) have inadequately served black communities. African American religious institutions, with their considerable influence in the community, have not filled this gap. Without an apparatus geared to inform their communities of the impending danger of HIV, churches have become complicit with the spread of the virus, particularly with respect to women and children.

Churches should step in and help with the burden. Isolation and hostility from the dominant culture are reasons why the black church has historically provided much of the support and services that keep the African American community strong.

A few churches have programs that educate and rehabilitate, as well as provide safe settings for people to discuss their feelings about HIV and AIDS. San Francisco’s Glide Memorial Church, under the direction of Reverend Cecil Williams, has developed the Glide-Goodlett HIV/AIDS Project. This program offers everything from anonymous HIV testing and quarterly educational fairs, to group and individual counseling, and much more. Not only is Glide there for members of its congregation, but through the AIDS Project, goes beyond the church and congregation to do community outreach. Glide’s commitment to the Tenderloin area in which it is located is apparent.

The only other church that offers specific HIV/AIDS services is Allen Temple in Oakland. Allen Temple has a doctor who attends to AIDS patients and as a member of the church, councils the congregation on AIDS.

With many black men unemployed or in prison, police violence rampant in minority communities, and frustration seeping into black families, the spread of HIV is one more strike. When will the time come when African American churches are held responsible for the people they serve ? When 52% of all female AIDS cases are black women, and 59% of all pediatrics AIDS cases are black children, it is time to deal with the problem now, "by any means necessary."

In the past, there have been times when the African American church has stepped in to provide sustenance and safety from the hostility and hate of the dominant culture.

It is time, once again, for the community to rally together for support and strength to battle an even fiercer enemy. No one should have to bear the fear of death and illness alone. It is time to wrap those arms - the same ones that held millions of ancestors through generations of hard times - around the children and parents, brothers and sisters who are affected by AIDS and HIV, because if we don’t, and if our churches don’t, no one else will.