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To begin with, let's consider the role the church plays in the Black community. We forget that a good reason these men are "down low" is because the Black church has been so overtly homophobic. The only exceptions may be organizations like the Balm in Gilead, a Black religious organization that focuses on HIV prevention from a Christian perspective. According to the Barna Group, in 2005, Blacks (50%) are the ethnic group most likely to have attended a religious service in the past week, followed by Whites (47%), Hispanics (40%), and Asians (36%). Yet, the Black church has been largely silent about HIV, and it has clearly perpetuated this problem of avoidance and deceit.

As with others, many religious Black people feel that people get AIDS because it's a punishment for their sins. It is interesting to note that the Black church in America is primarily female in its membership, even though the leadership is generally male. The fire and brimstone Protestant sermons replete with imperatives rooted only in “faith” play a larger role in communities where education and information are scarce. Ironically, The Book of Hosea says, "My people were destroyed for a lack of knowledge."

Clearly, the Black church isn't solely responsible for the problem, as the Rev. Oliver Clay Allen of Visions Church in Atlanta states in the documentary. There are some prevalent hyper-masculine Afrocentric stereotypes that I think need to also be considered. They often fly in the face of monogamy and abstinence. Frankly, it seems that the drug slingin', crotch-grabbin', pimp-walkin', misogynistic Mandingo, with countless children by various women in his wake, is still more acceptable than a homosexual with just one life partner. Ironically, BET's other programming frequently perpetuates these poor examples of Black men. Our paranoia and homophobia are, therefore, clearly byproducts of the religion and hyper masculinity in the Black community.

While I have sympathy for the Black women who contracted HIV, as I am to all of us living with this disease, the appearance of Terry McMillan was a bit disturbing to me for a few reasons. The most glaring of which was when she, like Bill Duke, implied that HIV infection risk could be treated as attempted murder. I praise Terry for openly rejecting the unrealistic idea that “more” Black men do this. However, the blame game over HIV in our community is remarkable.

The paranoia of the DL is also obvious as countless otherwise heterosexual men have told me that Black women they meet now inquire about their sexual orientation as standard fare. Conversations about what a prospective mate does for a living, the city in which they were raised, and the other typical small talk of initiating contact have now come to include awkward queries of whether or not he has ever had sex with another man.

While the question is a good one, and is found in the pre-screening questionnaire of the CDC's HIV test, the potential consequences of a man's honesty include not only a woman's rejection of him, but also the potential for him to be “outted” as a high risk partner. If a man has had sex with another man, the stigma of HIV and homosexuality will be placed upon him whether he has HIV or not.

The BET documentary wrapped up with the half truth that is indicative of this misplaced emphasis on sexual orientation. Bill Duke says that “If you have unprotected sex with other men and you have a girlfriend or wife, then you have an obligation to tell that person that you have sex with other men.” However, I disagree with this too. You should tell your partner if you're not monogamous, regardless of the gender of those you are with outside that relationship.

The disproportionate rates of incarceration and the lack of condoms in prison must also be considered. I am glad that BET discussed this oft-hushed aspect of HIV rates among Black men. As Black men are a significant portion of the nation's inmates, unsafe sex in prison is arguably a cultural or ethnic dilemma. According to the Human Rights Watch, even though Blacks comprise only 13 percent of the national population, we represent 30 percent of people arrested, 41 percent of people in jail, and 49 percent of those in prison.

Incarceration often occurs during the period of life when people are most sexually active. One in three Black men between the ages of 20 and 29 was either in jail or prison or on parole or probation in 1995. During the same time, one in ten Black men in their twenties and early thirties was in prison or jail.

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