NORTH CAROLINA & THE PROBLEM OF AIDS This page intentionally left blank NORTH CAROLINA & THE PROBLEM OF AIDS Advocacy, Politics, & Race in the South STEPHEN INRIG The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill © 2011 The University of North Carolina Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Set in Whitman and Univers The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Inrig, Stephen. (cid:2)North Carolina and the problem of AIDS : advocacy, politics, and race in the South / Stephen Inrig. p. cm. (cid:2)Includes bibliographical references and index. (cid:2)ISBN 978-0-8078-3498-5 (hardback : alk. paper) (cid:2)1. AIDS (Disease)—North Carolina—History. (cid:2)2. AIDS (Disease)—Social aspects—North Carolina. 3. AIDS (Disease)—Southern States—History. 4. African American gays—Diseases. I. Title. RA643.84.N8I57 2011 362.196’9792009756—dc23 2011025920 cloth(cid:2)15 14 13 12 11(cid:2)5 4 3 2 1 For Jula This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi INTRODUCTION In a Place So Ordinary: The Problem of AIDS in North Carolina and the American South 1 ONE AIDS and the Frightening Future: The Emergence of AIDS in North Carolina 13 TWO Making Sure That This Tragedy Never Happens Again: AIDS Organizing and North Carolina’s Gay Community 26 THREE We Ain’t Going to Tell Nobody: AIDS Organizations and the Challenge of Diversity 43 FOUR Black Men Die a Thousand Diff erent Ways: AIDS in African American Communities 58 FIVE The Future of a Futureless Future: AIDS and the Problem of Poverty in North Carolina 86 SIX Get Real. Get Tested: AIDS as a Chronic Disease in the American South 108 CONCLUSION Watson and the Shark: The Past and Future of AIDS in North Carolina and the American South 127 NOTES 139 BIBLIOGRAPHY 173 INDEX 203 This page intentionally left blank FIGURES AND TABLES Figures FIG. 1.1. Net Population Migration to and from North Carolina, 1920–1980 15 FIG. 2.1. North Carolina HIV/AIDS Cases by Race, 1983–1985 40 FIG. 4.1. North Carolina HIV/AIDS Cases by Race, 1987–1996 62 Tables TABLE 1.1. Black Migration to and from North Carolina, 1965–1980 24 TABLE 2.1. White AIDS Cases by Transmission Factor in Major North Carolina Cities, 1981–1989 41 TABLE 2.2. Black AIDS Cases by Transmission Factor in Major North Carolina Cities, 1981–1989 41