A mini “TechCheck”…
A frequent commenter on this site, JJ, recently wrote me asking if there was any data to show how much blacks agree with some of the frequently mentioned views of Reverend Wright. I thought it was a pretty interesting question given the back-and-forth in the press and blogosphere lately about how how common these views are in the black community. I figured I’d try seeing what some of the data had to say about what black folks believe regarding two of Wright’s expressions that have been given the most attention–that the government created HIV/AIDS and his anger expressed toward America.
Beliefs of HIV/AIDS being created by the government
The context: Wright once said, “The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color. The government lied.”
Some more context…On one of the cable news stations the other day, I saw a segment where an invited guest (a brotha) mentioned that there has been an ongoing debate in the black community with regard to Wright’s statement on HIV/AIDS. My knee jerk reaction was, “There ‘aint no debate about that!” Well, it turns out there is some hard data on this to put my reaction and that cat’s statement to the test.
In a study (published in Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes) based on survey data from 2002 and 2003, a sample of 500 Blacks aged 14-44 were asked about their views on HIV/AIDS. Here is some of what the researchers found from black folks:
- 27 % said they thought “AIDS was produced in a government laboratory.”
- About 16% agreed with a statement that AIDS was created by the government to control the black population.
- About 15% thought the disease is a form of genocide against black Americans.
- 53% thought “there is a cure for AIDS, but it is being withheld from the poor.”
So is there really a “debate” about this in the black community? You make the call. But 27% of folks believing that the government created the virus is a sizable minority. Even 16% of folks believing that HIV/AIDS is a form of genocide is pretty substantial. Maybe that guy had a point strictly in the sense that there are high numbers of black people who believe this. Thank goodness the majority of black folks don’t believe this, but frankly, these numbers scare the **** out of me.
BTW, while we’re on this topic, I have to take this opportunity to debunk a very popular myth among black people that the government gave blacks syphilis during the Tuskegee Experiment (Rev Wright has also stated this). There is no evidence of this happening. What the researchers in this experiment did do was allow Blacks to die by denying treatment to them which is heinous enough all by itself. Check this and this out.
Views Towards America
The context: Wright said, “The government gives [Blacks] the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes three-strike laws and wants them to sing God Bless America. No! No No! God damn America … for killing innocent people.”
This one is more difficult to directly assess. As far as I know, there is no such study that asks about whether Blacks think America should be damned or that it deserves whatever suffering falls upon it. However, there are surveys regarding how blacks feel about their condition in America and how much racial bias holds them back. Again–not a great way of getting at whether blacks think America should be “damned,” but it’s probably a reasonable proxy for generally how much anger and disappointment blacks feel towards the U.S.
The 2007 Pew Research Center report sampled 1,007 Blacks on racial attitudes. Some of what they found:
- Most blacks believe that discrimination and racism is a problem in America. 68% believe that they commonly face discrimination in two or more ways (choices were: applying for a job, buying a house/renting an apartment, applying to college, shopping or dining out).
BUT…
- Most also did not indicate discrimination as the main issue for blacks not getting ahead (30% believed discrimination was the reason).
- 53% thought that, “blacks who can’t get ahead in this country are mostly responsible for their own condition.”
You make the call. The answer depends on how you view the data. One could might make an argument that most Blacks are unhappy with their experience in the U.S. since most report common experiences of discrimination (which can’t feel good). On the other hand, most blacks don’t believe that this is what’s holding us back. Most are saying it’s our fault.
6 responses so far ↓
1
km
// Apr 20, 2008 at 10:01 pm
It fairly easy to fall into the trend of associating the “Reverend’s” beliefs with those of Obama, and actually believing that this reverend’s “beliefs” would actually influence Obama’s presidency if elected. The fact is, if we found out Clinton’s catholic priest was caught in a child abuse/pedophile scandal, it would not stick to Clinton - it is implied she has nothing to do with this and that it would not ultimately affect her presidency. At the end of the day, we simply cannot withstand another 4 years of Bush/Cheney policies, the Republican party needs to be unseated. McCain will bury Clinton in a presidential primary, Obama can beat him. Will we really have another opportunity to vote for another (viable and credible) minority candidate? This opportunity was a foregone notion 40 years ago…
2
Dan
// May 2, 2008 at 7:05 pm
KM seems to be missing the point. The analogy between HRC attending a church with a child abusing priest is laughable. Obama knew what the right Reverend Wright was saying while he was a 20 year member of the church while the priest was doing his dirty deeds in private. I am amazed at how far the Obama supporters will go to defend him. Keep it up. You just make yourself look more foolish each time you defend the indefensible.
3
JC
// May 23, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I’m so amazed about the level hypocrisy white people have just consumed themselves in. These are the same “good white” people who every year during Martin L King Jr.’s birthday stand up and praise MKL on how great he was, and how our country is so much better now because of him. Let’s have a real history check, when MLK was alive the majority of whites literally hated him. He was dismissed as a troublemaker and communist, and when they killed him many whites publicly and privately applauded his death. The point I’m making is that what Rev. Wright is saying, or has said, is not much different than what MLK said when he was alive.
4
Mike
// May 23, 2008 at 9:10 pm
King was very critical of the U.S. In fact, he called the U.S. “The greatest purveyor of violence in the world.” I haven’t listened to any of Wright’s speeches in their entirety but I’d bet that the major difference between the two types of critiques is that King’s analysis was much more pointed, fact-based, and intellectual in nature.
5
Caered
// May 1, 2009 at 5:57 am
hi bro, ,
6
Che Baraka
// Jun 3, 2009 at 2:58 am
I was wondering if there was any data to show how much whites agree with some of the frequently mentioned views of Reverend Wright? I think it is a pretty interesting question given the lack of discussion in the press and blogosphere about how common these views are in the white community.
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