Black History Post Of The Day- The Stigma Of Ignorance

THE STIGMA OF IGNORANCE

   In today’s society the words stigma and ignorance are not often found in the same sentence, however when it comes to HIV/AIDS they’re quite the bedfellows. All too often these two words are the gas that fuels many of our fears and misconceptions when it comes to life in general. Conversely, when it comes to HIV/AIDS both stigma and ignorance stand in the way of treatment or just information that may bridge the gap between knowing and not knowing and as we’ve learned in life the line is very thin when it comes to awareness verses not being aware. Stigma, what is it and what does it mean. In sociological theory, a stigma is an attribute, behavior, or reputation which is socially discrediting in a particular way: it causes an individual to be mentally classified by others in an undesirable, rejected stereotype rather than in an accepted, normal one.

  The only way to remove the stigma is first through knowledge then education. When you educate you alleviate the myths and misnomers of miseducation that often mislead and misguide people into thinking there is no hope. Knowledge is the bridge that one must cross in order to obtain wisdom, because like the old folks told us "knowledge applied is wisdom gained."What knowledge am I talking about? I'm talking about the knowledge that allows an individual to see things for what they truly are and not what we think they should be. Knowledge is not only information but when used collectively with wisdom it becomes an energy force that is able to break down barriers of discrimination, hate, stigma, or any traditional way of thinking because it brings about an understanding based upon not just facts and statistics but the truth. If you don't believe the power of this energy is able to change things all you have to do is look at the last Presidential election as proof.

Education elevates the mindset and the consciousness of the individual so that he or she realizes that as a member of the human race what affects one affects all. If we continue to be selfish with our time, our resources and our abilities to make a difference then what we’re dealing with is only going to get worse. When you look at the statistics alone it’s enough to make you realize that something has to be done. According to Aids statistics from www.avert.org   more than one million people are living with HIV in the USA and that more than half a million have died after developing Aids. At the end of 2007, the CDC estimates that 468,578 people were living with AIDS in America, around 20,000 more than 2006 and out of these numbers it is estimated that forty percent of the people living with Aids were African-American. What’s worse is the CDC just made public the information that their current estimates and figures regarding the actual number of individuals infected with HIV in this country may actually be 40% higher than expected.

This is part One of an artcle of an Article that I wrote for an online e-newsletter.