Proper Library (Historical Context)

Historical Context

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

When acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first recognized in the 1980s it was looked upon by many as a "gay plague," a disease only affecting homosexual men. By the time this story was written in 1993, however, thousands of heterosexuals had died of AIDS, and low income African Americans in the inner city were especially at risk, for several reasons. First, intravenous drug use is more prevalent in inner-city neighborhoods, and the sharing of contaminated drug paraphernalia is one of the most common methods of contracting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In addition, drug use also impairs judgment and increases the likelihood that the user will engage in unprotected sexual intercourse. As a result, it is estimated that as many as 30 percent of all AIDS cases are caused directly or indirectly by intravenous drug use. Second, teens in the inner city are more sexually active and more likely to have unprotected sex (as is demonstrated by the high rate of teen pregnancy). Lorrie, as a gay teen having unprotected sex in the inner city, is at extremely high risk of getting the HIV virus.

In 1991, two years before this story was published, basketball great Magic Johnson announced that he had HIV, and in the same year this story was released, tennis star Arthur Ashe died of AIDS, which he had contracted through a contaminated blood transfusion. These two high-profile cases made many more African Americans aware of the dangers AIDS posed to everyone, not just to gay men. The number of known deaths from AIDS in the United States reached a peak in 1993, with 41,920 Americans dying of the disease, up from 23,411 in 1992.

Racial Unrest: the Rodney King Case

On March 3, 1991, Los Angeles police stopped black motorist Rodney King on a drunken driving charge; King resisted arrest and was brutally beaten by the officers. A bystander videotaped the incident, and the four police officers were charged with assault. On April 29, 1992, the officers were acquitted, triggering six days of massive rioting in Los Angeles. Fifty-four people were killed and hundreds of buildings were damaged or destroyed. In a federal trial in 1993, two of the officers were found guilty of violating King's civil rights and were sentenced to thirty months in prison. To many in the African American community and elsewhere, the case was a frustrating example of discrimination in the justice system. This sentiment was further intensified when the venue of the original case was moved from Los Angeles, where the incident had occurred, to Simi Valley, a suburb with a much smaller African American population and a disproportionately large number of law-enforcement officers.

Compare & Contrast

• Early 1990s: In 1990, there are 223 pregnancies for every 1000 black teenage girls between the ages of fifteen and nineteen. This is nearly twice the rate for the overall population; the overall teen pregnancy rate is 116 pregnancies for every 1000 teenage girls.
  2000s: By 2000, teen pregnancies have declined significantly both in the African American and overall populations. The teen pregnancy rate for black teens, however, continues to be significantly higher. In 2000, there are 153 pregnancies for every 1000 teenage black girls aged fifteen to nineteen; the rate for the overall population of teen girls is 83 pregnancies per 1000.
• Early 1990s: Both the number of new cases of AIDS diagnosed and the number of deaths from AIDS peak in the United States in 1993, the year this story is first published. There are nearly 80,000 new cases of AIDS reported in 1993, and over 40,000 deaths.
  2000s: Greater awareness of the precautions necessary to prevent AIDS significantly reduces the number of new diagnoses. After about 1998, the number of new cases reported remains at around 40,000. After 2000, the number of reported deaths remains at around 18,000 per year. Unfortunately, in the black community, there is not as much improvement. In 2003 half of all the people diagnosed with new cases of HIV or AIDS are black.
• Early 1990s: In 1994, some 25 percent of white households with children are single-parent households. In the black community, 65 percent of households with children are single-parent households.
  2000s: The percentage of black children living with married parents makes a significant increase between 1995 and 2000, from 35 to 39 percent. This rate is the highest percentage in decades, which some experts attribute to resurgence in the popularity of marriage in the black community.
• Early 1990s: In 1992, among whites aged six-teen to twenty-four, some 7.9 percent are high school dropouts. Among blacks in the same age group, about 13.6 percent drop out of school. Hispanics have the highest rate at 27.5 percent. Over one third of the black female dropouts cite pregnancy as their reason for dropping out (about one fourth of white female respondents cite pregnancy as the reason for leaving school).
  2000s: In 2001, the dropout rate for whites aged sixteen to twenty-four drops slightly to 7.3 percent; black students make a more significant improvement, reducing their dropout rate to 10.9 percent. Hispanics make the least improvement; the dropout rate among Hispanics aged sixteen to twenty-four in 2001 is 27 percent, attributable in part to difficulties with the English language. Part of the reduction in dropout rates may be due to the drop in the teen pregnancy rate.