Marc,
A week ago one of our “Down from the Tower” readers sent me the March 12th NYTimes story reporting on the Center for Disease Control’s recent study finding that nearly half of African-American teenagers were infected with at least one sexually transmitted infection as compared to 20 percent of white teens.
Given that you and I are both raising young daughters I decided this is something we have to discuss.
The easy answer for us to lock our girls in their respective rooms until they are 30-years -old. I am happy to help you find a home- schooling tutor. Much as I would like this, I know that eventually young people have to go out into the world.
The second easy answer is to assume this issue is solely about bad choices and poor morals and to believe that we can protect our kids by enforcing abstinence until marriage. I certainly hope that my daughter makes that choice, but given the difficult and crazy choices teenagers face, I also have to believe there are ways that policy can make a difference.
African American girls are at particular risk for a lifetime of maternal and infant mortality, unintended pregnancies leading to higher abortion rates, and the growing epidemic of HIV/AIDS. Black women are nearly four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. Black women are 23 times more likely to be infected with HIV/AIDS and 14 times more likely to die from the disease. The numbers of black girls receiving abstinence-only instruction instead of comprehensive sex education has significantly increased as compared to white girls. This means young black women are not being taught about contraceptive use for preventing pregnancy and protecting against sexually transmitted diseases.
These statistics scare and paralyze me. But I have a few suggestions of things we can do
1) Write or call our U.S. Representatives and Senators and demand they make sure women of color have access to health care.
2) Work aggressively in our public schools and on our campuses to make sure that free condoms are widely and easily accessible.
3) Contact the Center for Reproductive Rights and get the facts about sexual health. Share the information with all the young women in your life: nieces, daughters and neighbors.
4)Send suggested questions and topics to the cable networks hosting presidential debates and make sure that the racial disparities in reproductive health care are part of any discussion on health care reform.
5) Write letters to the editor to major newspapers such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Washington Post, demanding more coverage of maternal mortality in the U.S., the growing epidemic of HIV/AIDS among Black women, and how abstinence- only education is affecting black girls.
These seem like small steps, but at least they make me feel empowered in the face of these devastating facts. What do you think we should do?
Melissa
