One thought that crosses nearly every first-year student's mind when they get to University Heights for their first frat party is: "Man, this place is a dump." Unfortunately if these students work their way beyond Bailey Avenue, they'lal find it doesn't get any better. This is Buffalo's East Side - a poor, neglected and predominantly black section of town that is the center of Buffalo's AIDS epidemic.
According to Buffalo News reports, 67 percent of all new HIV/AIDS cases occur in African Americans, most of them in poor communities like the East Side. These statistics back up and condemn Buffalo's recent ranking as the sixth-most segregated city in the nation.
It is estimated that 900,000 people have HIV/AIDS in the United States, and the number of new cases among what has long been the stereotypical AIDS case, gay white men, has stabilized. The epidemic now is among the nation's black population, accounting for more than half the new cases in Western New York, according to the AIDS Network of WNY. The problem has moved beyond the straight vs. gay issue, as 67 percent of African American cases are among women, a majority acquiring the virus through sex with men. A stark majority of these cases occur in poor black communities. The causes for this continued outbreak are varied - unemployment, higher occurrences of drug use, limited healthcare and even ignorance - but one overarching theme connects most of these cases: segregation and resulting poverty.
The United States is becoming increasingly diverse, a modern society where cultures are supposed to mix in the Great American Melting Pot. A quick tour of Buffalo reveals the city is out of step with this concept. Driving through neighborhoods near Delaware Park will reveal well-maintained houses on well-maintained, plowed streets. Across town, neighborhoods like the Masten District are considerably more run-down, with pockmarked streets and a consistent layer of snow needing to be plowed. Another thing becomes apparent when on these streets: there are a lot more black people in the Masten District than on Delaware Avenue. Move out to the suburbs and the disparity is even more apparent.
A 2002 survey ranked Buffalo sixth-most segregated city in the nation, behind Detroit, Cleveland and St. Louis. The poll judged segregation by looking at the ethnic makeup of neighborhoods and schools and found Buffalo has many neighborhoods and schools that are predominantly one race or another and few that were relatively mixed. The poll also found minority neighborhoods were on average poorer and in worse condition than most white neighborhoods, an accurate description of much of Buffalo.
How this translates into an HIV/AIDS rate in blacks that is almost double that of whites is simple: poorer neighborhoods and schools offer less education and fewer opportunities for their residents. Looking at these factors, the spread of AIDS in African Americans becomes less of a race issue and more of a class issue. Ignorance and drug use - and by extension HIV/AIDS cases - are products of poor environments, and the only way to combat these problems is to extend outreach to these neglected neighborhoods. Better police patrolling, better municipal maintenance and improved schools are the best ways to help these areas to escape the problems of poverty.
We all operate within the system that has produced impoverished ghettos in which AIDS can flourish, and we all share responsibility for the epidemic. We also have the ability to change this system and reverse these damaging trends. The problem cannot be ignored for much longer.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
