African-American College Students Are More Likely Than Their White Peers to Believe That the AIDS Crisis Is a Government Conspiracy Directed Against Blacks

About one half of all new AIDS cases involve African Americans. Therefore, it is encouraging to note that researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have found that African-American college students are just as likely as whites to participate in a clinical trial for an AIDS vaccine if the opportunity were offered to them. Generally, blacks have been more reluctant than whites to participate in all types of clinical trials.

The Emory study also found that African-American college students were more likely than white students to believe the AIDS crisis is part of a government conspiracy directed against black people. Black students were also more likely than their white peers to believe that an HIV vaccine already exists but is being withheld from the public.

Copyright © 2006. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.