From: Bill Douglass (douglassbill@hotmail.com)
Date: Tue Jan 25 2000 - 09:56:33 MST
On Monday, 24 Jan Michael Wiik wrote:
>Subject: Cultural Survivability - Is Africa dead?
>
>I saw this TV news segment the other day that had some disturbing >news
>about AIDS in Africa. In one part, it said that tribal medicine men >were
>telling HIV+ males that having sex with young girls (preferably >virgins)
>would cure them. To me, this relates to the idea of children as a
>'poison box', explained at:
>http://www.psychohistory.com/05_history.html
>
>Further, of course, there is the continuing practice of female
>circumcision which has been linked to the spread of AIDS. Combining
>this with intolerance between different tribal groups and recent
>genocides in Africa it suggests to me that Africa retains cultural
>aspects which is very dangerous to long-term survivability.
>
>Any thoughts?
As far as the "sex with a virgin as a cure for HIV" goes, the same most
unfortunate, unbelievably sad belief exists in India, as well. HIV-positive
men sometimes go to brothels and request a virgin, as they think that having
sex with one will somehow pass the virus from themselves into the hapless
young girl. The chances are high that the virgin will indeed contract the
virus, because of the tearing and rupturing of tissue that occurs with the
breaking of the hymen. The men who do this are highly ignorant, obviously,
but they're also highly immoral, to want to pass a deadly disease to another
person, to save their sorry selves.
As far as Africa and its multitude of problems, an excellent and highly
readable book to start with is "Out of America: A Black Man Confronts
Africa", by Keith D. Richburg. This brave individual has really laid bare
the soul of the continent of his ancestry in this book. Here's the Amazon
link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/flex-sign-in/ref=cm_rate_rev/002-2339665-2212260#rated-review
Another which comes highly recommended, but which I haven't had a chance to
read yet, is George B.N. Ayittey's "Africa in Chaos".
>Africa retains cultural
>aspects which [are] very dangerous to long-term survivability
Agreed.
The article you referenced looks very interesting at first glance; no time
to read and comment on it at the moment.
Best,
Bill Douglass
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