Where Are the Black People?

I like Desperate Housewives. I’ve been watching the shows for years. During those years, there was only one Black family on Wisteria Lane. After they were written out after the first season, there hasn’t been any. Disappointing.

I emailed ABC either last year or year before last about the absence of African Americans. I forgot the response. All I know is: there were no Black people then, and there aren’t any now.

Like I stated early, I really do like Desperate Housewives. Before I draw my own conclusions, I have to ask ABC one more time: Where are the Black people on Desperate Housewives?

A response would be greatly appreciated.

Photo: Entertainment Weekly via Google Image Search

Every 6 seconds one person, or ten people per minute,  is infected with HIV/AIDS.  Unfortunately, most of these people are black women  in the United States.

According to the Center for Disease control, African American women account for over 50% of  the newly reported HIV/AIDS cases.  In fact, twelve percent of the entire population is comprised of black people, yet they have disproportionately  higher AIDS/HIV rates.

You’re probably wondering: what does this have to do with media? It means that African Americans, particularly women, with HIV/AIDS are NOT Seen on TV.

When HIV/AIDS was thought to be a gay white male disease in the 80s, there was a huge uproar with new reports and free flowing information from ALL media sources.  It wasn’t just because the disease was new, although that certainly had an impact.  I really don’t think it had a lot to do with the fact that the persons infected were gay.  I do believe that because the group affected were white men, all hell broke lose.  Now that African Americans are the fastest growing population of the epidemic, it seems to be swept under the rug.

The whys of the increase do not matter, neither do the hows.  What really matters in this case is the who.

I have seen posters, some magazines, and other ads with the colorful faces, but for some reason, this topic just doesn’t seem to be important enough to be flashed across TV screens at the rate at which it  should be shown.  I mean, we are still hearing about Tiger Woods’ mistake even though he said he needed a break to get things together.

So, why are we not hearing anything about this epidemic that is killing Black women at lightening speeds. Would the level of apathy be the same if the infected population was white?

Why do you think Black Women with HIV/AIDS are not seen on TV?