iven that today is World AIDS Day, you’d think that bigots would take a break from their race-baiting and gay-hating to pause and reflect on the slaughter of 25 million people, including those of all races and sexual orientations. But they’re bigots, so while you’re raising awareness, they’re tweeting stuff like this:
They’ll try to get you thinking that black people created AIDS by sexing chimps.
Since you will encounter these people today, here are some weapons you can use to slay their ignorance.
First, tell them to read the Village Voice’s 1999 Pulitzer Prize Winning series on AIDS in Africa (If you haven’t read it, stop what you are doing immediately and begin. ) Part 4: The Virus, Past and Future does a remarkable job of laying out the prevailing theories of HIV’s genesis in Africa and explaining what Africans think of the theories:
- The Hunter Theory: The virus started in chimpanzees and spread to Africans when they were hunting and dressing the animal, inadvertently exposing the humans’ cuts and wounds to the blood of infected chimps.
- The Oral Polio Vaccine Theory: In the 1950s, an oral polio vaccine was tested in central and east Africa. Some believe it was cultivated in the kidneys of chimps infected with the simian version of HIV, SIVcmz.
- Contaminated Needles: Healthcare professionals in Africa often reused needles, while administering vaccines or other medicines.
- Colonialism: European land grab and economic policies drove people into cities in search of work and laid the groundwork for industrial scale prostitution.
Another great resource is this video, The Origin of AIDS, which explores The Oral Polio Vaccine Theory.
If you’re dealing with a religious bigot today, one of those who thinks that God created AIDS to destroy gays, you could show them this.
The point is, be prepared. Don’t let bigots undermine this opportunity for humanity to pull together to stop AIDS.