WASHINGTON - "We can keep it on the down low. Nobody has to know," R. Kelly once crooned in his trademark silky style. Kelly, an R&B superstar best known these days for his indictment last year on child pornography charges, scored a hit with a catchy ode to infidelity way back in 1995.
While the song may be nearly forgotten, its title - "Down Low" - remains very much in vogue. In current lingo, it describes Black men who secretly engage in homosexual relationships while maintaining wives and girlfriends. Last week, both The Washington Post and The New York Times featured articles on the "down low" lifestyle, which experts link to the soaring rates of HIV infection among African-American women.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate that African-American women accounted for nearly 64% of HIV cases among women in 2001. In 25 states with long-standing HIV reporting, the rate of HIV infection among African-American women ages 20 to 44 was four times higher than the rate among Hispanic women of the same age, and more than 16 times higher than the rate among white women. The leading cause of infection is heterosexual contact, according to the CDC. In other words, there's a whole lotta cheatin' goin' on...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43576-2003Aug11.html
While the song may be nearly forgotten, its title - "Down Low" - remains very much in vogue. In current lingo, it describes Black men who secretly engage in homosexual relationships while maintaining wives and girlfriends. Last week, both The Washington Post and The New York Times featured articles on the "down low" lifestyle, which experts link to the soaring rates of HIV infection among African-American women.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate that African-American women accounted for nearly 64% of HIV cases among women in 2001. In 25 states with long-standing HIV reporting, the rate of HIV infection among African-American women ages 20 to 44 was four times higher than the rate among Hispanic women of the same age, and more than 16 times higher than the rate among white women. The leading cause of infection is heterosexual contact, according to the CDC. In other words, there's a whole lotta cheatin' goin' on...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43576-2003Aug11.html