"The color of my skin does not automatically identify me." That is what I wish so many of my friends would say as I see countless agencies target their HIV prevention efforts to African Americans but my friends are Ethiopian, Nigerian, Jamaican, Haitian, Dominican or some other nationality and therefore get missed by these educational efforts. I honestly recognize that the CDC's numbers are primarily reflective of African Americans but since the U.S. policy has traditionally banned entry of persons with HIV to this country all those black folk who are not African American are acquiring it here and we in the community are doing nothing to stop it because we see some shaded hues and think that this one message will fit all. When the reality is, from my own personal experience, sex and HIV is not viewed or conceptualized in the same way. I remember those first conversations with my husband about risk as an immigrant who also had the added stigma of being one of the early "identified risk groups" based on country of origin. He did not identify with the messaging that was presented and certainly did not see his risk or mine because of it.
The color of my skin does not automatically identify me. Does yours?
