Black Health: Sexploitation – The Impact of Sex on the Black Community
The third installment of the Black Health topic focuses on sex and how it effects the Black Community.
The 3 Questions
1. Why do you believe Black people have the highest rates in many of the negative categories pertaining to sexual activities?
2. Do you feel that Black culture has become overly sexualized, why or why not?
3. Is sex destroying the Black Community?
FRONT STREET
Blacks have the highest rates of HIV and are among the leaders both in abortion rate and unintended pregnancies. Black people are the highest demographic to be unfaithful. Setting aside the old saying of “There are lies, there are damn lies, and there are statistics,” these are all damning and embarrassing numbers when it comes to the sexual behavior of Black people. Sex has grown to become one of the biggest factors of health in the Black Community in the past 30 years. It can have an effect on everything from your education to your life expectancy. Sex is complicated even for God, where in one way it is seen as a sin and another way as a blessing. I believe this very same conflict of sex exist in the Black Community and has placed Us in a predicament. Is sex contributing to the destruction of the Black Community?
Please write in and respond to our 3 poll questions or post some questions that you would like to see asked. These questions and more will be addressed during the discussion found on YouTube beginning on x/xx/20xx.
1. Why do you believe Black people have the highest rates in many of the negative categories pertaining to sexual activities?
A lack of education when it comes to sex and sexual activities due to both the religious overtones of Black life and the fact that a majority of Black people live in the old southern slavery states. These states are largely run by people who think such education is against God’s law and cut classes and information with the misguided understanding that not talking about the situation will help prevent young people from having sex.
2. Do you feel that Black culture has become overly sexualized, why or why not?
Maybe in some ways Black people have been, but I think all of society has been overly sexualized. But Black people always bear the blunt of any issue in this country.
3. Is sex destroying the Black Community?
Statistically, there is little to debate. We have terrible stats concerning STDs, unwanted pregnancy, abortions, infidelity, and so on and so on. However, I feel like this is just one of the many things that contribute to the perpetual problem of poverty, which has always been the true killer of the advancement of Black people.
1. Why do you believe Black people have the highest rates in many of the negative categories pertaining to sexual activities? Promiscuity is promoted in our society and like anything else, we black people are usually successful at whatever we try to do. If we honored positive traits then people would aspire to them. It’s not easy to change the culture but it happens, we just need this next time it changes it be for the better.
2. Do you feel that Black culture has become overly sexualized, why or why not? Black women are beautiful and others see that and want to have surgery to be that. It’s a compliment to be desired but it can become creepy and that seems to happen to all races.
3. Is sex destroying the Black Community? No. Lack of respect for life and losing the village mentality has hurt us, along with respect for our elders. Respect for life, self explanatory. Village mentality, we mind our business. We need to look out for one another and help one another. Steer those doing wrong into the right direction. Respect for our elders, these folks are wise and they offered stability in many families and most importantly, continuity. Many families are falling apart since Big Mama passed. They don’t get together on Sunday. These things seem trivial but they are the cornerstones of successful and functional black families in America.
1. Why do you believe Black people have the highest rates in many of the negative categories pertaining to sexual activities?
I think it is a combination of lack of resources and culture. You see the same kind of thing happen in poorer countries. Generally speaking, the Black community has less access to quality healthcare which is needed for both treatment after you get sick and education on what to do in order to not become sick in the first place. In reference to culture, keeping your business to yourself is a big part of it. Lots of factors can lead to unfaithfulness, but the unwritten pact of secrecy may make the temptation too strong to resist. If someone has multiple partners, they don’t tell anyone. And if they catch something, it gets around faster. If their partners have multiple partners as well it spreads even faster. The multiple partners has some bearing on the unintended pregnancy numbers, but I think the abortion ones are really based on economics. Raising kids is expensive, so if you are already struggling adding another mouth to feed can seem like too much to handle. This is especially true if you are young.
2. Do you feel that Black culture has become overly sexualized, why or why not?
I think that it has become overly sexualized due to it being one of the only stereotypes about black people that have some kind of positive connotation. The other being athletic prowess, which is kind of linked in a way. It is natural to lean into your perceived strengths in order to feel acceptance. Unfortunately, too much of even a good thing can become an issue.
3. Is sex destroying the Black Community?
This is difficult to answer directly. Sometimes people mistakenly say that the money is the root of all evil. This is not exactly accurate but close to the original sentiment. The proper expression is that the love of money is the root of all evil. This is a subtle difference, but an important one. Loving money puts one in a frame of mind that they are willing to anything to get it, which is the issue. It is not sex directly that is contributing to the destruction of the Black community. It is the behaviors surrounding it that are the detriment. The lies told to get it, the lack of communication once it causes a health problem, and the message that you need to have it in abundance in order to be somebody.