Gender and Culturally Tailored Interventions Help Curb STDs in Black Girls

Ralph J. DiClemente, Professor, Candler Professor. Associate Director, Prevention, Science, Emory Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) for Behavioral Science. Co-Director of Graduate Studies, PhD Program. Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health. 1518 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30322 rdiclem@sph.emory.edu tel: (404) 727-0237

Black girls who undergo gender and culturally tailored HIV interventions are significantly less likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease. The study by Emory University public health researchers is being presented at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. It analyzed the self-reported sexual behavior and condom usage among 439 sexually active black girls between the ages of 15 and 21. Some of the girls participated in an HIV intervention called HORIZONS, a multi-modality, relationship-focused intervention emphasizing ethnic and gender pride, HIV knowledge, communication, condom use skills and healthy relationships. The HORIZONS intervention was administered in two four-hour group sessions and augmented with four brief individualized telephone contacts designed to reinforce safer sex motivations. The group of young women in the comparison, or control group, participated in one HIV prevention group session.

The researchers found that girls who participated in the HORIZONS intervention were less likely to have contracted a STD and were more likely to consistently use condoms during sex when compared to the girls who did not undergo HORIZONS training. "African-American adolescent females seeking treatment for STDs are at high risk for HIV. However, no interventions have demonstrated efficacy in reducing HIV-associated sexual behaviors among this vulnerable subgroup," says Ralph DiClemente, PhD, Candler professor of public health at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health, and study co-author. "We found that gender-tailored and culturally-congruent interventions can reduce bacterial STD infections and enhance HIV-preventive behaviors," DiClemente says. ### The HORIZONS intervention program was created at the Emory Rollins School of Public Health by researchers DiClemente and Gina Wingood, ScD, MPH. The program is now being used as a model nationwide.

Gina M. Wingood, Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, PhD Program. Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education. Rollins School of Public Health, 1518 Clifton Road NE. Atlanta, GA 30322. gwingoo@sph.emory.edu tel: (404) 727-0241

In addition to DiClemente and Wingood, study authors were Eve Rose, MSPH, Jessica Sales, PhD, and Delia Lang, PhD, MPH, all of the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University; Angela Caliendo, MD, PhD of the Emory University School of Medicine; and James Hardin, PhD, of the University of South Carolina, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Reference: WEPE0346 Development and Evaluation of an HIV Risk-Reduction Intervention Tailored for High-Risk African-American Female Adolescents Seeking Treatment at STD Clinics.

Contact: Ashante Dobbs adobbs2@emory.edu 404-727-5692 Emory University

Bulging prison system called massive intervention in American family life

Becky Pettit Associate Professor Office: Condon 318. Phone: 206-616-1173, Office Hours: Wednesdays 10:00-12:00 and 3:00-5:00 bpettit@u.washington.edu, Sociology of the Family, Social Demography, and Economic Sociology.

BOSTON -- The mammoth increase in the United States' prison population since the 1970s is having profound demographic consequences that disproportionately affect black males. "This jump in incarceration rates represents a massive intervention in American families at a time when the federal government was making claims that it was less involved in their lives," according to a University of Washington researcher who will present findings Sunday (Aug. 3) at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. Drawing data from a variety of sources that looked at prison and general populations, Becky Pettit, a UW associate professor of sociology, and Bryan Sykes, a UW post-doctoral researcher,

found that the boom in prison population is hiding lowered rates of fertility and increased rates of involuntary migration to rural areas and morbidity that is marked by a greater exposure to and risk of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV or AIDS.

These effects are most heavily felt by low-skill black males, and she said the disproportionately high incarceration rates among African-Americans suggest the prison system is a key suspect in these demographic results.

Bryan L. Sykes Department of Sociology, 223J Condon Hall, Box 353340. 1100 NE Campus Parkway. Seattle, WA 98195-3340, 206-543-7060. Electronic Mail: BLSYKES@U.WASHINGTON.EDU

Pettit said well-documented facts -- one in 100 Americans is behind bars in 2008, about 2.4 million people currently are incarcerated and nearly 60 percent of young black males who dropped out of high school have served time in jail -- don't seem to register with Americans. "These kinds of rates were not historically true 30 years ago. Today, we are giving people custodial sentences that we wouldn't have in the past for victimless crimes. Our justice system has become more punitive,"

she said, adding that most demographic data collection is decades behind the times and masks this racial disproportionality. That's because most surveys, which are federally funded, were begun in the 1960s and 70s and excluded the prison population, which was significantly smaller at that time.

In addition, she noted that the effects of an ever-growing criminal justice system extend beyond those who are serving sentences to include children, partners and even entire communities.

Among the findings outlined in Pettit's presentation are:

• Rates of positive or latent tuberculosis are 50 percent to 100 percent higher for inmates than for the general population. The TB rate among black inmates is 14.6 percent compared to 8.4 percent for white inmates. Despite substantial declines in the overall risk for TB in the U.S., blacks are eight times more likely to contract the disease than whites.

• Blacks both inside and out of prison have higher rates of HIV infection than whites. Inmate rates for HIV are 3.5 percent for blacks and 2.3 percent for whites, although Pettit said this data is weak because many inmates have not been tested for HIV or will not say if they are HIV positive.

• The number of black men living in rural, or non-metropolitan, areas increases dramatically when the inmate population is included because many jails and prisons are located in rural locations.

• Rates of childlessness are higher for both black and white inmates than the general population. Sixty-four percent of non-prison white men have children, but that number drops to 50.6 percent of jailed white men. Among blacks, 71.7 percent of the non-prison men have children while 61.7 percent of those in jail are fathers.

The survey focused on African-Americans and non-Hispanic whites because earlier surveys did not collect data about such groups as Hispanics or Asian-Americans or because the sample sizes from these groups were too small to draw valid statistical judgments. The study also only looked at men between the ages of 25 and 44 and broke them into three groups -- high school dropouts, high school graduates and those with a college degree or some college education

Pettit said she hopes her work can be a springboard for better and more inclusive data collection that paints a more accurate demographic picture of the U.S. population.

"We usually don't think of the prison system as something that is a policy shift. But the public health risks and the effects on migration and fertility show that it has had fundamental consequences for all of us," she said.

"It is in our own self-interest to be concerned. And certainly from a fiscal standpoint we have an interest. In times of financial difficulty, we have a fixed amount of money and for every dollar we spend on incarceration we have one dollar less to spend on education and other things. This is a challenging public policy question." ###

Contact: Joel Schwarz joels@u.washington.edu 206-543-2580 University of Washington, For more information, contact Pettit at (206) 616-1173 or bpettit@u.washington.edu.

Sociologists explore 'emotional labor' of black professionals in the workplace

Marlese Durr, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Sociology Work, Occupations, Race and Labor Markets HOMEPAGE

BOSTON — Black professionals make extra efforts in the workplace to fulfill what they believe are the expectations of their white colleagues, according to research to be presented today at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA).

Sociologists Marlese Durr of Wright State University and her co-author Adia Harvey Wingfield of Georgia State University argue that black professionals engage in two types of "emotional performance" in the workplace: General etiquette and racialized emotion maintenance.

"Our analysis of these aspects of workplace behavior reveals that women and men co-mingle etiquette and emotion maintenance to be accepted in the workplace and to fit white expectations," said Durr. "This emotional overtime in the workplace strengthens race/ethnic group solidarity."

Whether it's stressful, inauthentic or downright draining, Durr claims that emotional labor is "a crucial part of black women's self-presentation in work and social public spaces." These efforts to fit in can, in effect, make African American women feel isolated, alienated, and frustrated. Durr and Wingfield illustrate emotional labor as performance with a quote from an African American woman who says of her workplace peers, "They…are careful to remember…'that's not professional. Remember they got the s[hit] that'll get you bit! Keep your Negro in check! Don't let it jump up and show anger, disapproval, or difference of opinion. They have to like you and think that you are as close to them as possible in thought, ideas, dress and behavior.'"

Adia Harvey, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology. Office: 1070 GCB 404-413-6509 Email: aharvey@gsu.edu Teaches: Race, Class, and Gender in the Media, Social Theory, Research Methods, Race and Ethnic Relations Research Interests: Race, class, and gender inequality, work and occupations, social theory HOME PAGE

Marlese Durr, PhD, is an associate professor of sociology at Wright State University, in Dayton, Ohio, where she has taught for 14 years. Durr's research focuses on the area of organizations, work and occupations, and race and gender. She received her PhD in 1993 from the University at Albany, State University of New York, and is the author of The New Politics of Race: From Du Bois to the 21st Century (Praeger Press, 2002) and Work and Family, African Americans in the Lives of African Americans with Shirley A. Hill (Rowman & Litttlefield, 2006).

Adia Harvey Wingfield is assistant professor of sociology at Georgia State University in Atlanta, where she has taught for two years. Her research focuses on the ways race, gender and class intersect to affect various groups in different occupations and workplaces. She received her PhD in 2004 from The Johns Hopkins University, and is the author of Doing Business with Beauty: Black Women, Hair Salons, and the Racial Enclave Economy (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008), a study of working-class black women entrepreneurs. ###

The paper, "Keep Your 'N' In Check: African American Women and the Interactive Effects of Etiquette and Emotional Labor," will be presented on Sunday, Aug. 3, at 2:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Boston at the American Sociological Association's 103rd annual meeting.

To obtain a copy of the paper by Durr and Wingfield; for more information on other ASA presentations; or for assistance reaching the study authors, contact Jackie Cooper at jcooper@asanet.org or (202) 247-9871. During the annual meeting (July 31 to Aug. 4), ASA's Public Information Office staff can be reached in the press room, located in the Sheraton Boston's Exeter AB room, at (617) 351-6853, (617) 351-6854 or (301) 509-0906 (cell).

About the American Sociological Association: The American Sociological Association (www.asanet.org), founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society.

Contact: Jackie Cooper jcooper@asanet.org 202-247-9871 American Sociological Association

Survey Finds More Blacks than Whites See Positive Effect of Central High Crisis

Little Rock Central High School Photographer: NPS photo Description: Front facade of Central High School.

More than fifty years after the Central High integration crisis, more blacks than whites in Pulaski County believe that the crisis has had a positive effect on race relations today.

In a newly released report by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 873 out of 1,666 people who participated in a racial attitudes survey conducted last fall believe the events of 1957 continue to impact Pulaski County race relations. Overall, 69 percent of their comments indicate that the Central High crisis is having a positive effect on race relations today.

Blacks were more likely to offer positive comments than whites (77 percent of comments from blacks, 61 percent of comments from whites). The researchers suggest that the reason for this may be that “the legacy of Central High has been more keenly felt by black members of the community because it has impacted their everyday lives and hopes for the future more directly.”

Researchers in UALR’s Institute of Government Survey Research Center reported these findings from a set of special questions related to the Central High crisis included in this year’s fourth annual survey of racial attitudes in Pulaski County. The survey also asked if black-white race relations still bear the impact of what happened 50 years ago.

“The free response nature of the questions yielded a deep pool of material for researchers to analyze,” researcher Siobhan T. Bartley says in the report. “Overall, these rich and varied data provide a fascinating snapshot of the attitudes of today’s Pulaski County residents toward one of the most infamous episodes in their collective history.”

The following themes surfaced from comments in the survey:

• * The Central High crisis has been an inspiration: 25 percent blacks / 21 percent whites.
  - 48-year-old black female said, “A lot of those black students persevered, and it’s a good example for young blacks that even though obstacles come your way, you can still achieve what you put your mind to.”
  - 71-year-old white male said, “The black individuals that were involved are seen as positive role models and respected. Anytime we can generate black role models, that is very important.”
  
  
• * The Central High crisis left a legacy of shame: 22 percent whites / 3 percent blacks.
  “It’s pouring salt in an old wound,” a white male, 65, commented.
  
  
• * The Central High crisis resulted in new opportunities for blacks: 22 percent blacks / 14 percent whites.
  “Now there are black administrators, mayors, and governors in the U.S.,” said a black male, 45.
  
  
• * The Central High crisis resulted in an increase in racial interaction: 17 percent blacks / 13 percent whites.
  “When kids go to school together they learn more about each other. You learn to respect each other,” said a black male, 66.
  
  
• * The Central High crisis is a lesson from history: 13 percent blacks / 13 percent whites.
  “It helps people realize how bad it was and that… we will never make the same mistake again,” said a white female, 26.
  
  
• * The Central High crisis resulted in no changes in racial relations: 13 percent blacks / 7 percent whites.
  “Racism is still here – it’s just covered up,” said a black female, 46.
  
  
• * The Central High crisis resulted in a change for the worse: 10 percent whites / seven percent blacks.
  “The black culture is different in a negative way and I don’t want this influencing the white culture,” said a white female, 79.

The results of the survey were based on telephone interviews with a total of 1,666 black and white adult Pulaski County residents interviewed between Sept. 29, 2006, and Nov. 27, 2007, by the UALR Institute of Government Survey Research Center. For more information about the Central High portion of the racial attitudes survey, go to ualr.edu/racialattitudes/county/ and click on “Central High Effects.”

University of Arkansas at Little Rock | 2801 S. University Avenue | Little Rock, Arkansas 72204 UALR is designated as "doctoral/research intensive" by the Carnegie Foundation.

Jazz Giant Louis Armstrong Was Born August 4, 1901

Louis Armstrong, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 4, 1901 (according to the most recent research), in the poorest section of town. He overcame poverty to become one of the most important people in the history of music.

Louis Armstrong was called "the single most important figure in the history of jazz" by Billboard magazine, a publication that tracks the recording industry. The jazz magazine Down Beat agreed.

No one before Armstrong had ever played the trumpet the way that he did. He was one of the first great soloists of jazz music. The solos he played were as interesting and innovative as any music written at the time. Rather than follow notes on a page, he improvised, playing what was in his head instead. This type of playing laid the foundation for all jazz to come.

The new style of singing that Louis Armstrong pioneered was called "scat." Scat singing is a lot like improvising on a musical instrument. Instead of singing real words, with scat one sings nonsense words to the melody.

Armstrong became as famous for his scat singing and gravelly voice as his trumpet playing. He recorded many songs with another jazz great and scat singer, Ella Fitzgerald. In addition to all of his accomplishments, Louis Armstrong holds the record for being the oldest artist ever to have a Number 1 record.

He accomplished this when he was 63 years old with his version of the song "Hello, Dolly," from the musical of the same name. What is even more extraordinary is that he reached Number 1 in 1964 by toppling the Beatles from the top of the charts! Louis Armstrong had come a long way from his poor Louisiana beginnings.

IMAGE CREDIT: Public Domain Clip Art
TEXT CREDIT: Progressive Era (1890-1913)

CAPTURING THE “REAL” GREAT DEBATERS

AMS Pictures partners with Wiley College on new documentary

Dallas, Texas, The real-life Wiley College experience will be captured on film thanks to a partnership between the College and AMS Pictures. The production of a documentary that will explore the story of the Wiley College debate team, whose remarkable defeat of an all-white champion debate team at the University of Southern California in 1935 inspired the 2007 film The Great Debaters starring Denzel Washington, is expected to be completed by September 2008.

The Great Debaters, which debuted in movie theaters across the country December 2007 and was released nation-wide on DVD this month, depicts the Wiley College debate team in its championship 1935 season and chronicles its amazing journey from obscurity and struggle to its historic victory, a triumphant achievement for a small black college in the Jim Crow South of the 1930s.

The new documentary The Real Great Debaters of Wiley College delves deeper into the real-life events that inspired the film chronicles the personal stories of the 1935 debaters, including Professor Melvin B. Tolson and debater James Farmer, Jr., as well as Henrietta Bell Wells, Nolan Anderson, Hobart Sydney Jarrett, Hamilton Boswell and Henry Heights.

The Real Great Debaters will also explore the legacy of their achievements and show how professors and students, skilled in oratory and rhetoric honed in black churches and debate societies, would take up the cause of social and political progress, become major figures in the Civil Rights Movement and make vast contributions to American society.

But the story does not end with the historic debate against USC, nor even the lasting influence of Tolson or his debate team. So inspired by the story of the 1935 debaters, in December 2007, Mr. Washington contributed $1 million to Wiley College to reestablish the famed debate program with a new generation of students. The Real Great Debaters, which will be a flagship addition to AMS Pictures� Black History Uncovered series of documentaries on African American history, also will chronicle the actual adventures of today�s Wiley College students as they form a new debate team and set out to re-claim the national debate title.

AMS Pictures is pleased to be chosen to partner with Wiley College on the production of this documentary. �I watched The Great Debaters in a movie theater last December and immediately thought this would make a great documentary. I am very proud to be able to tell the true story behind this inspirational movie,� said Andy Streitfeld, CEO of AMS Production Group and AMS Pictures.

Dr. Haywood Strickland, President of Wiley College, remarked �Wiley College is excited to be partnering with AMS Pictures on this documentary. Our college is proud of its history and working hard to bring that history into the present. We play an important role in educating students for the challenges they will face in a competitive work world. This documentary will tell that story as well.�


About AMS Pictures
AMS Pictures brings 25 years of experience in creative media and visual storytelling to create original programs that inspire, provoke and entertain. From inspiring original documentaries on forgotten people and events to controversial topics like electroconvulsive therapy and domestic violence, from entertaining peeks at American art and culture to informative hints on balancing body and mind, AMS Pictures delivers quality non-fiction entertainment. We make pictures that move you.

About Black History Uncovered
Black History Uncovered is a series that explores inspiring and untold stories in the African American legacy as seen through a contemporary perspective. The series currently includes: Rising from the Rails: The Story of the Pullman Porter, In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Films & The Birth of Black Cinema, Flying for Freedom: Untold Stories of the Tuskegee Airmen; and A Colored Life: The Herb Jeffries Story.

Wiley College Public Relations 903-927-3201 Wiley College | 903.927.3300 | 711 Wiley Avenue, Marshall, Texas 75670 Contact Wiley College

Study links soft drinks and fruit drinks with risk for diabetes in African-American women

Dr. Julie R. Palmer, Sc.D. - Dr. Julie Palmer's research has been in the areas of cancer epidemiology, reproductive epidemiology, and cardiovascular epidemiology, and has focused on women's health. Early in her career, she designed and carried out the largest study yet of persistent gestational trophoblastic disease, demonstrating a strong association between long duration use of oral contraceptives and risk of this rare disease. She also published on oral contraceptive use and liver cancer with data from the Slone Case-Control Surveillance study, confirming a suspected association of long duration use with risk of primary liver cancer. Dr. Palmer was instrumental in designing and implementing the Black Women's Health Study. She has served as co-investigator of the study since its inception in 1995. The Black Women's Health Study, conducted in collaboration with investigators at Howard University, follows 59,000 black women from across the U.S. to assess risk factors for outcomes that include breast cancer, other cancers, hypertension, diabetes, systemic lupus erythematosus, uterine fibroids, and preterm birth. Since 2003, Dr. Palmer has been PI of a grant to collect cheek cell samples from Black Women's Health Study participants for use in future analyses of low-penetrance genes in relation to cancer and other diseases.

Boston, MA—Researchers from Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have found that regular consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks and fruit drinks is associated with an increased risk for type 2 diabetes in African-American women. These findings appear in the July 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. Type 2 diabetes, a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, has increased in incidence in recent years, while the age of diagnosis has dropped. Type 2 diabetes is a particular problem among U.S. black women, as their incidence rate is twice that of U.S. white women. In questionnaires mailed to participants of the Black Women's Health Study (an ongoing prospective study of 59,000 African-American women from all parts of the U.S.) the researchers obtained information on height, weight, demographic characteristics, medical history, usual diet and other factors. Follow-up questionnaires that requested updated information on lifestyle factors, occurrences of diabetes and other serious illnesses were mailed to participants every two years. The researchers found 2,713 participants developed diabetes during the first ten years of follow-up in the study. The incidence of type 2 diabetes rose with increasing intake of both sugar-sweetened soft drinks and fruit drinks. Women who consumed two or more soft drinks a day had a 24 percent increase in incidence of relative to women who drank less than one soft drink per month. A similar association was observed for sweetened fruit drinks, with a 31 percent increase observed for two or more servings per day relative to less than one per month. The researchers note that while there has been increasing public awareness of the adverse health effects of soft drinks, little attention has been given to fruit drinks, which often are marketed as a healthier alternative to soft drinks.

"Fruit drinks were consumed more frequently than soft drinks in our study, and the proportion of total energy intake from fruit drinks in the U.S. population doubled from 1977 to 2001," said lead author Julie Palmer, ScD, a professor of epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health. "The public should be made aware that these drinks are not a healthy alternative to soft drinks with regard to risk of type 2 diabetes," she added. ###

This study was supported by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Contact: Gina DiGravio gina.digravio@bmc.org 617-638-8491 Boston University

Army commemorates 60th anniversary of Armed Forces Integration

Fighting with the 2nd Infantry Division north of the Chongchon River, Sgt. 1st Class Major Cleveland, weapons squad leader, points out a North Korean position to his integrated machine-gun crew Nov. 20, 1950. Photo by James Cox

Army commemorates 60th anniversary of Armed Forces Integration BY Col. Jonathan Dahms WASHINGTON (Army News Service) -- On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, establishing the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services. It was accompanied by Executive Order 9980, which created a Fair Employment Board to eliminate racial discrimination in federal employment.

Segregation in the military services did not officially end until the Secretary of Defense announced on Sept. 30, 1954 that the last all-black unit had been abolished. However, the president's directive put the armed forces at the forefront of the growing movement to win an equal social role and equal treatment for the nation's African-American citizens.

Veterans of Integration - On the 60th anniversary of integration of Armed Forces, veterans who served during that period take a look back.

The Army began integrating units during the Korean War. Eighth Army commanders in Korea began filling losses in their white units with individuals from a surplus of black replacements arriving in Japan in late 1950. By early 1951, 9.4 percent of all African-Americans arriving in theater were serving in some 41 newly and unofficially integrated units, according to retired Army historian Morris J. MacGregor Jr. in his book, Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965.

Another 9.3 percent of black Soldiers in Korea were in integrated, but predominantly black units, according to MacGregor, who said the other 81 percent continued to serve in segregated units.

This limited conversion to integrated units during the Korean War became permanent because "it worked.... The performance of integrated troops was praiseworthy with no reports of racial friction," said MacGregor, who served for years with the U.S. Army Center of Military Hisotory.

In December of 1952, Army Chief of Staff Gen. J. Lawton Collins ordered worldwide integration of Army units. All of the earlier fears cited to support the continuation of a segregated Army proved to be groundless, according to MacGregor. There was no increase in racial incidents, no breakdown of discipline, no uprising against integration by white Soldiers or surrounding white communities, no backlash from segregationists in Congress, or major public denouncements.
The Army and the nation were taking the first steps toward racial equality and harmony that would be at the core of the civil rights movement of the early 1960s.

"Sixty years ago, President Truman set a non-negotiable standard for our nation's military, '...there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons,'" said Secretary of the Army Pete Geren. "On the 60th anniversary of that courageous act, we celebrate our Army's commitment to fulfilling President Truman's order and Dr. King's dream, an Army where men and women are judged by the content of their character not the color of their skin - Where the only colors that matter are red, white and blue."

The integration of the armed forces did more than just provide opportunity for African-American Soldiers, it opened the door of opportunity for people from diverse backgrounds.

"I think that we're leaders in many areas, but certainly we're leaders in equal opportunity," said retired Lt. Gen. Julius Becton in a PBS interview. Becton was a Soldier who lived through the integration from World War II through the Korean and Vietnam War, and the Army's first African-American three-star general to command VII Corps in Europe. "We're leaders in giving all minorities an opportunity to demonstrate what they can do. A point that we oftentimes are prone to forget, the order of 9981 did not just help the blacks."

Executive Order 9981 not only opened the door of opportunity for people from all walks if life, it showed the strength that there is in diversity, Becton said.

"That order of 9981 helped the entire Army, because it enhanced combat effectiveness," Becton said. "We don't have separate this, separate that, but when you are training together, you're going to be a better Army. We've proven that time and time again."

As part of a continuing observance of Executive Order 9981, the U.S. Army will be highlighting the historic importance of its 60th Anniversary through the eyes of Soldiers serving today in a diverse force, Army leaders said.

"We are not the greatest Army in the world because we are white or black, but because we reflect the faces of our society," said Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth Preston. "You learn early on that people can either be successful or not based on their abilities, willingness to make personal sacrifices and their commitment to the team."

Kidneys donated after cardiac death could reduce disparities for black kidney transplant recipients

Researchers advocate for increased use of these organs.

Kidneys donated after individuals die from cardiovascular causes may be one of the best options for black patients in need of transplants, according to a study appearing in the October 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The research reveals that utilization of these organs should be expanded in order to reduce racial disparities that exist in renal transplantation.

Numerous studies have shown that persistent disparities exist in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and kidney transplantation. Black patients with ESRD comprise more than a third of the kidney transplant waiting list but are 2.7 times less likely to receive a kidney transplant than their white counterparts. In addition, black patients are more likely to experience kidney failure after transplantation compared with whites.

There is a clear shortage of donor kidneys in the United States, and there are currently more than 70,000 Americans waiting for kidney transplants. Kidneys donated after brain death are currently used for transplantation, but rarely are organs donated after cardiac death. Researchers say that increased recovery and utilization of kidneys donated after cardiac death could help boost the supply of organs available for transplantation. However, it is unclear whether the racial disparities seen in donations made after brain death would also be seen when donations were made after cardiac death.

To examine the issue, Daniel Warren PhD, and Jayme Locke MD, MPH, of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and their colleagues looked at the outcomes of more than 100,000 adults who received a deceased donor kidney transplant between 1993 and 2006.

Among black patients, those who received kidneys from black cardiac death donors had better long-term kidney and patient survival than those who received kidneys from non-black donors. In addition, compared with standard-criteria kidneys from white donors after brain death, kidneys from black donors after cardiac death conferred a 70% reduction in the risk of kidney loss and a 59% reduction in risk for death among black recipients.

The investigators found that racial disparities were less profound when kidneys were donated after cardiac death compared with kidney donations made after brain death. "These findings suggest that kidneys obtained from black donors after cardiac death may afford the best long-term survival for black recipients," the authors conclude.

The authors note that the findings also indicate that increased utilization of kidneys donated after cardiac death has the potential not only to reduce the organ shortage but also to mitigate the existing disparities for black kidney transplant recipients. They add that the racial disparities in organ and patient survival after kidney transplantation need further investigation. ###

The article entitled, "Donor Ethnicity Influences Outcomes Following Deceased-Donor Kidney Transplantation in Black Recipients" will be available online at http://jasn.asnjournals.org/ beginning on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 and in print in the October issue of JASN.

ASN is a not-for-profit organization of 11,000 physicians and scientists dedicated to the study of nephrology and committed to providing a forum for the promulgation of information regarding the latest research and clinical findings on kidney diseases. ASN publishes JASN, the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN), and the Nephrology Self-Assessment Program (NephSAP). In January 2009, the Society will launch ASN Kidney News, a newsmagazine for nephrologists, scientists, allied health professionals, and staff.

Contact: Shari Leventhal sleventhal@asn-online.org 202-416-0658 American Society of Nephrology

TWO TEXAS HISTORIC AFRICAN AMERICAN SITES RECEIVE RESTORATION GRANTS

Julius Rosenwald

WASHINGTON, DC - Lowe's and the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced that they are awarding nearly $100,000 in grants to fund restoration projects at two historic Rosenwald Schools in Texas. W.D. Spigner Elementary School in Calvert, and Pleasant Hill School in Linden will each be the beneficiaries of $50,000 grants.

The Texas projects are among 17 Rosenwald School grant recipients in the Southern United States.

Funding for these grants was provided by Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation through a $1 million contribution to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This is the third year that Lowe's has supported the National Trust for Historic Preservation with a $1 million grant. The Rosenwald Schools represent an important chapter in the history of the United States.

Booker T. Washington

Originally built by Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington between 1918 and 1932 as part of a school-building program for African Americans in the rural South, today only about 10 percent of the over 5,300 buildings constructed remain standing, and many are in serious disrepair. The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Rosenwald schools to its list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2002.

"The Rosenwald schools tell a story of extraordinary generosity," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "In a time of great racial inequality, Julius Rosenwald worked with communities across the South and Southwest to improve educational opportunities for African Americans. These schools represent a critical link to our national heritage, and we are very pleased that Lowe's understands the importance of preserving the important places that tell America's story."

"Rosenwald schools encouraged a sense of community and paved the way for previously unimaginable educational opportunities," said Larry D. Stone, chairman of the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation. "Time and neglect have put these schools in danger, and we need to act now to save these structures that are as significant to the local community's civic life as they are to our nation's history."

W.D. Spigner Elementary School (Calvert, TX)

W.D. Spigner Elementary School was built in 1929 and is one of the few, original Rosenwald School buildings still being used today for public education, as well as for community events. With the assistance of the grant funds, the school will undergo much needed structural, safety repairs and upgrades to insure its continued use for the original purpose: to educate African American youth in need of assistance.

Pleasant Hill School (Linden, TX)

Built in 1925, the Pleasant Hill School restoration project is part of Linden's greater endeavor to restore the local courthouse-the oldest one in Texas. The grants will go towards updating the well preserved building to ADA compliant standards, improved climate control and safer plumbing and electrical systems. Once complete, the building will be used for community events, private rentals, as a meeting place local organizations, and concerts and plays. Because of its future use in the arts, the project is also supported by the local County Performing Arts Council, and native son Don Henley.

Other Rosenwald School grant recipients include

Old Merritt School (Midway, AL)

Acworth Rosenwald School (Acworth, GA)

Hickory Colored School (Mayfield, KY)

May's Lick Negro School (May's Lick, KY)

San Domingo Community and Cultural Center (Mardela Springs, MD)

The Lil' Red Schoolhouse (Drew, MS)

Randolph School (Pass Christian, MS)

The Ware Creek Rosenwald School (Blounts Creek, NC)

R.A. Clement (Cleveland, NC)

Hamilton Rosenwald School (Hamilton, NC)

Warren County Training School (Wise, NC)

Cairo Rosenwald School (Gallatin, TN)

Lincoln School (Pikeville, TN)

Great Branch Teacherage (Orangeburg, SC)

Scrabble School (Scrabble, VA)

For more information on Rosenwald schools, please visit www.rosenwaldschools.com/.

Contact: Virgil McDill, National Trust for Historic Preservation 202.588.6218 virgil_mcdill@nthp.org

Maureen Rich, Lowe’s Companies, Inc. 704.758.2298 Maureen.A.Rich@lowes.com

ABOUT THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION - The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a non-profit membership organization bringing people together to protect, enhance and enjoy the places that matter to them. By saving the places where great moments from history - and the important moments of everyday life - took place, the National Trust for Historic Preservation helps revitalize neighborhoods and communities, spark economic development and promote environmental sustainability.

With headquarters in Washington, DC, nine regional and field offices, 29 historic sites, and partner organizations in all 50 states, the National Trust for Historic Preservation provides leadership, education, advocacy and resources to a national network of people, organizations and local communities committed to saving places, connecting us to our history and collectively shaping the future of America's stories. For more information visit www.preservationnation.org/.

ABOUT LOWE'S - Lowe's is a proud supporter of Habitat for Humanity International, American Red Cross, United Way of America, and the Home Safety Council, in addition to numerous non-profit organizations and programs that help communities across the country. In 2007, Lowe's and the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation together contributed more than $25 million to support community and education projects in the United States and Canada.

Lowe's also encourages volunteerism through the Lowe's Heroes program, a company-wide employee volunteer initiative. Lowe's is a FORTUNE® 50 company with fiscal year 2006 sales of $46.9 billion and has more than 1,525 stores in the United States and Canada. For more information, visit Lowes.com/community. ###

$50,000 George Washington Book Prize Awarded to Marcus Rediker for The Slave Ship

Mount Vernon Regent Boyce Ansley and President Tipson present Marcus Rediker with the George Washington Book Prize medal. A Conversation with Marcus Rediker, winner of the 2008 George Washington Book Prize

Mount Vernon, VA — The fourth annual $50,000 George Washington Book Prize, honoring the most important new book about America's founding era, was awarded at Mount Vernon to Marcus Rediker for The Slave Ship: A Human History (Viking, 2007). In this bicentennial year of the abolition of the slave trade, Rediker—a prize-winning author who chairs the history department at the University of Pittsburgh—

was honored for his definitive and painfully evocative account of the floating prisons that carried an estimated 12.4 million Africans across the "Middle Passage" of the Atlantic to help build the new America.

A social historian, Rediker's subject is not only the ships—vessels of such terror they had to be outfitted with special netting to prevent the desperate Africans from throwing themselves overboard—but the kidnapped Africans and their many individual histories and attempts at resistance; the common sailors who were their prison guards, tormentors and sometime fellow victims; and the necessarily brutal ships' captains who were the agents of a new global capitalism made possible by the trade in human life.

"One of the things I wanted to do in this book was to make our understanding of the slave trade concrete—hence, my subtitle, 'a human history'—because I think our capacity to live with injustice depends to some extent on making it abstract," said Rediker, whose fierce opposition to the death penalty was the inspiration for The Slave Ship and its exploration of what he describes as the historic connection between race and terror. "The George Washington Book Prize is a tremendous honor, and a surprise. I grew up in the South, went to high school in Virginia, so George Washington and the Virginia aristocracy always loomed large in my mind. It's where I first came to understand issues of race and class and I've been working on them ever since."

Presented to Rediker at a black-tie dinner attended by some 200 luminaries from the worlds of book publishing, politics, journalism and academia, the George Washington Book Prize includes a medal and $50,000—making it one of the largest history awards in the country.

Complete with fireworks and candlelit tours of Washington's Mansion, the Mount Vernon event also celebrated the works of the two other finalists: Woody Holton for Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution (Hill and Wang) and Jon Latimer for 1812: War with America (Belknap/Harvard). The books were selected by a three-person jury of distinguished American historians, including Robert L. Middlekauff of the University of California at Berkeley, chair; Elizabeth A. Fenn of Duke University; and Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy, director of Monticello's International Center for Jefferson Studies and professor of history at the University of Virginia.

In their report on the winning entry, the jurors wrote that "Rediker shares one quality with the demographers who study the slave trade, he respects evidence and uses it in the telling of slave history. But it is not the numbers of people that interest him (though he reports the horrifying figures demographers give on the extent of the trade), it is the experience of these people. His is a 'human history,' his book's subtitle that may seem redundant, but isn't. Virtually every aspect of the story of where the slaves were from, how they were captured and imprisoned, transported to slave ships, and their treatment on board is covered... Along the way the reader learns much, not only about the slaves but also about the men who owned the ships and ran them... Rediker describes his book as 'painful'; it was surely painful to write. Despite the emotional cost to its author, it is beautifully written. Indeed the book is, in its use of evidence and its determination to expose the bleakness of the slave experience, evocative and moving, and deeply instructive in unsuspected ways."

Rediker's book was named the winner by a panel of two representatives from each of the three institutions that created and sponsor the prize—Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland; the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York City; and the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association—plus historian Patricia Bonomi of New York University.

"For more than 200 years, Americans have been engaged in an ongoing—and sometimes contentious—conversation about the meaning and significance of our founding era," said Adam Goodheart, Hodson Trust-Griswold director of Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, which administers the prize. "The George Washington Book Prize honors books that contribute fresh insights to that national conversation, and that approach history as a literary art. Rediker's book succeeds marvelously on both counts: it is a majestic, even poetic book, profoundly moral but never moralistic, and suffused with a sense of deep human sympathy."

"Marcus Rediker's The Slave Ship is a brilliant, exhaustive and deeply humane work of scholarship, which, although it is a history that encompasses every country in the Atlantic World, nonetheless shaped the Founding Era in profound ways," said James G. Basker, President of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. "The legacy of this history remains one of our challenges in America today."

Created in 2005, the George Washington Book Prize was awarded in its inaugural year to Ron Chernow for Alexander Hamilton and in 2006 to Stacy Schiff for A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America. This is the second time it has been awarded for a book on the slave trade—last year it went to Charles Rappleye for Sons of Providence: The Brown Brothers, the Slave Trade, and the American Revolution.

About the Sponsors of the George Washington Book Prize

Washington College was founded in 1782, the first institution of higher learning established in the new republic. George Washington was not only a principal donor to the college, but also a member of its original governing board. He received an honorary degree from the college in June 1789, two months after assuming the presidency. The C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, founded in 2000, is an innovative center for the study of history, culture and politics, and fosters excellence in the art of written history through fellowships, prizes, and student programs.

Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History promotes the study and love of American history. The Institute serves teachers, students, scholars, and the general public. It helps create history-centered schools, organizes seminars and programs for educators, produces print and electronic publications and traveling exhibitions, sponsors lectures by eminent historians, and administers a History Teacher of the Year Award in every state through its partnership with Preserve America. The Institute also awards the Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and George Washington Book Prizes, and offers fellowships for scholars to work in the Gilder Lehrman Collection. The Institute maintains two websites, www.gilderlehrman.org and the quarterly online journal www.historynow.org.

With its new Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center, the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association has created the equivalent of a presidential library for George Washington. "We want to be the first place people think of when they have a question about George Washington," noted James Rees, Mount Vernon's Executive Director. "The George Washington Book Prize is an important component in our aggressive outreach program to historians, teachers, and students."

Gene variant found in those with African ancestry increases odds of HIV infection

HIV/AIDS researchers - (L-R) Seema S. Ahuja, MD, assistant professor in the department of medicine; Sunil K. Ahuja, MD, assistant professor in the departments of medicine and microbiology; and Enrique Gonzalez, MD, and Srinivas Mummidi, DVM, PhD, both postdoctoral fellows in the department of medicine.

A variant of a gene found only in people of African ancestry increases the odds of becoming infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) by 40 percent, according to a long-term study of African Americans reported in the [date] issue of the journal Cell Host & Microbe, a publication of Cell Press. However, once people are infected, the same variant seems to protect against progression of the disease, allowing those who carry it to live about two years longer.

" It's well-known that individuals vary in their susceptibility to HIV and that after infection occurs, the disease progresses at variable rates," said Sunil Ahuja of South Texas Veterans Health Care System and University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. "The mystery of variable infection and progression was originally thought to be mainly the result of viral characteristics, but in recent years it has become evident that there is a strong host genetic component."

The new discovery is one of few genetic risk factors for HIV found only in people of African descent, the researchers added. If the new findings can be extrapolated to Africa, where about 90 percent of all people carry the variant, it may be responsible for 11 percent of the HIV burden there, they estimate.

The gene in question encodes a protein found mainly at the surface of red blood cells, which is called Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines (DARC). The DARC variant found commonly in people of African ancestry leaves them without this particular red blood cell receptor. That so-called "DARC-negative" condition has been well studied because it also confers protection against infection by a malaria parasite known as Plasmodium vivax. (P. vivax is unfortunately not the parasite responsible for millions of malaria deaths each year in Africa today. The researchers speculate that this DARC gene variant may have risen to such high frequency as protection against some other, more lethal strain of malaria that existed at some time in the past.)

" The big message of this paper is that something that protected people against malaria in the past is now leaving them more susceptible to HIV," said Robin Weiss of University College London. "After thousands of years of adaptation, this Duffy variant rose to high frequency because it helped protect against malaria," added Matthew Dolan of the Wilford Hall United States Air Force Medical Center and San Antonio Military Medical Center. "Now, with another global pandemic on the scene, this same variant renders people more susceptible to HIV. It shows the complex interplay between historically important diseases and susceptibility in contemporary times."

Earlier studies had suggested that HIV can bind to red blood cells via DARC. In accord with its name, DARC also binds a wide array of inflammatory molecules known as chemokines, including one called CCL5, which is highly effective in suppressing replication of HIV-1.

Those hints led the researchers to wonder just what the impact of DARC on HIV-AIDS might be. In cell culture, they found further evidence that HIV binds to DARC on red cells. "We started looking at red cells together with HIV and, sure enough, the virus attached," Weiss said. "The DARC molecule on red cells in cell culture then transferred the virus to lymphocytes to get infected." CD4+ T lymphocytes are white blood cells that are a primary target of HIV infection.

When chemokines that also bind DARC were added to the mix, less HIV-1 bound to the red cells, confirming that the virus and chemokines were in competition for the DARC receptor. "Duffy acts somewhat like a sponge," Ahuja said. "It binds all these chemokine molecules and that binding also extends to HIV, setting up a triumvirate of interactions between DARC, chemokines and virus."

The researchers next looked to a large cohort of people in the U.S. Air Force, including more than 1,200 who are HIV positive, who have been followed for nearly 22 years. This group is ideal for evaluating the role of such a gene because this cohort is ethnically balanced and without many of the factors, including differences in economic status and access to health care, that would generally confound any genetic effect, Dolan explained.

Those studies showed that the prevalence of the "DARC-negative" variant in African Americans was greater amongst those with HIV than in those without. Although the DARC-negative genotype was associated with an increased risk of acquiring HIV infection, within the context of established infection a contrary result was observed: people with that variant had a slower disease course, they report.

" The parts of a car that get it into gear are separate from those that get it moving once in gear," Ahuja said. "A similar analogy applies to HIV; the factors that influence its transmission are not necessarily the same as those that influence disease progression."

Although it isn't yet entirely clear how exactly DARC mediates opposing effects during HIV acquisition and disease, the researchers suspect those with the DARC receptor are initially protected because they also have more HIV suppressive chemokines in their system. Once infected, however, the balance turns in favor of those without DARC as increased chemokine levels may promote inflammation in those with DARC. Also, once the virus reaches higher levels, it is more likely to displace chemokines bound to DARC on red cells, further exacerbating inflammation. And during established infection, HIV bound to DARC on red cells is poised for delivery to CD4+ T cells, the researchers said.

The findings help answer an earlier conundrum: the researchers had previously shown that people with a particular variant of the chemokine CCL5 have a faster rate of HIV progression. But, that pattern only held in European Americans, not in African Americans. They now show that the disease-accelerating effect of the CCL5 variant is evident only in DARC-expressing and not in DARC-negative HIV-positive individuals. In other words, the unmeasured effects of DARC amongst African Americans in the earlier study "masked" the influence of CCL5, exemplifying the importance of accounting for such complex gene-gene interactions in genetic studies.

" The results underscore that genetic variants that influence transmission and disease progression can differ in their frequency among different populations, with possible impacts on the heterogeneity of HIV disease burden--not just at the level of individuals but also populations," they concluded. They may also have implications for evaluating the efficacy of HIV vaccines.

###

The researchers include Weijing He, Veterans Administration Research Center for AIDS and HIV-1 Infection, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX , Stuart Neil, University College London, London, UK, Hemant Kulkarni, Veterans Administration Research Center for AIDS and HIV-1 Infection, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX , Edward Wright, University College London, London, UK, Brian K. Agan, Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD, Wilford Hall United States Air Force Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, TX , San Antonio Military Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, TX; Vincent C. Marconi, Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD , Wilford Hall United States Air Force Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, TX , San Antonio Military Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, TX; Matthew J. Dolan, Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD, Wilford Hall United States Air Force Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, TX, San Antonio Military Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, TX; Robin A. Weiss, University College London, London, UK; and Sunil K. Ahuja, Veterans Administration Research Center for AIDS and HIV-1 Infection, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX , University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX.

Contact: Cathleen Genova cgenova@cell.com 617-397-2802 Cell Press

Race, not space, key to lower black male employment rate

David Neumark Professor of Economics. Other affiliations: Senior Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California; Research Associate, NBER; Research Fellow, IZA. Office. Social Science Plaza Building B, Room 3259 Mailing address. Department of Economics 3151 Social Science Plaza University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA 92697-5100 USA. Telephone. (949) 824-8496 Fax. (949) 824-2182 Email. dneumark@uci.edu

Economists shed light on low-skilled workers’ black-white employment gap A study finds that in areas where low-skilled jobs are predominantly held by whites, black men who live nearby are less likely to get hired. “The problem is not lack of jobs at appropriate skill levels where blacks live, but lack of jobs available to blacks,” said UC Irvine economist David Neumark, co-author of the study. For years, it’s been widely accepted that space is a primary barrier to employment – meaning there are not enough low-skilled jobs where less-skilled black workers live.

But by analyzing the employment, education level and location of more than 533,000 black males across the United States, Neumark and his colleagues found that the issue is not simply whether jobs are available nearby, but whether they are available to one’s own race.

“It’s an exaggeration to say blacks don’t live where the jobs are,” said Neumark. “In reality, there are many jobs held by non-blacks in areas where blacks live – including at lower education levels.”

And the greater the proportion of those jobs that are held by whites, the lower the chance the local blacks will get hired into those jobs.

“The jobs simply are not available to their race,” Neumark added.

The study does not answer the question of why this happens, but the researchers suggest discrimination or lack of labor market networks are likely causes.

Jobs for low-skilled workers are often advertised informally through word of mouth in social networks, such as among friends or church members, Neumark explained. In many communities, this means that blacks may not have good information about job openings in businesses employing mainly whites.

Neumark and his colleagues call this effect “racial mismatch,” a new spin on the term “spatial mismatch,” which has been used to describe the lack of the right jobs in the right place.

Recently, programs like “Wheels to Work” and “Moving to Opportunity” have emphasized getting the workforce to the appropriate jobs by providing transportation or relocation. But when Neumark and his colleagues ran a simulation based on their data, they found that eliminating location differences between blacks and whites would only close the racial employment gap for low-skilled individuals by 10 to 15 percent.

“That’s not a significant improvement in employment,” Neumark said. “Policies focused on getting people to the jobs miss the bigger barriers facing low-skilled blacks.”

The study, co-authored by Judith Hellerstein and Melissa McInerney of the University of Maryland, is available this month as part of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s working paper series. Their research was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Russell Sage Foundation.

• To access the paper, go to papers.nber.org/.

About the University of California, Irvine: The University of California, Irvine is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Founded in 1965, UCI is among the fastest-growing University of California campuses, with more than 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students and about 1,800 faculty members. The second-largest employer in dynamic Orange County, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $3.7 billion. For more UCI news, visit www.today.uci.edu.

Contact: Christine Byrd 949-824-9055 cbyrd@uci.edu

Researcher finds mitochondrial DNA reveals few clues about African ancestry

Dr. Bert Ely - Professor of Biological Sciences. Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina. Ph.D., 1973, Johns Hopkins University. ely@sc.edu or 803-777-2768 The African-American DNA Roots Project has been developed in collaboration with Dr. Bruce A. Jackson at the University of Massachusetts to use specific DNA analysis techniques to attempt to identify unique signature sequences among African-Americans that might link them to particular West African ethnic groups. This study will determine the genetic patterns present in two types of DNA, known as the Y chromosome DNA ("Y DNA") and mitochondrial DNA ("mtDNA"). These unique genetic elements are passed directly through the paternal and maternal lines, respectively. Each person’s Y DNA or mtDNA comes directly and solely from his or her father or mother, who got it from their father or mother, who got it from their father or mother, and so on into the past. This property makes Y DNA and mtDNA very useful for learning about the past history of human populations, because it traces a direct line of paternal and/or maternal descent. Additionally, different paternal and maternal lineages have different genetic signatures in their Y DNAs and mtDNAs, so that all paternal or maternal relatives from a lineage can usually be distinguished from those of other lineages. As the Y chromosome and mtDNAs are characterized, they will be compared to reference lineages to identify matches. It is relatively easy to identify the continent of origin for many mtDNA and Y chromosome sequences. However, most Africans have mtDNA lineages that are shared among many ethnic groups due to migrations and ethnic mixing. Therefore, mtDNAs are not very useful for tracing maternal ancestry to small geographic regions (see below). Similar studies are underway with African Y chromosome analyses.

Mitochondrial DNA may not hold the key to unlocking the ancestry of African Americans, according to a study by a University of South Carolina researcher published in this week's issue of the journal BMC Biology. The report by Dr. Bert Ely, a biology professor in the university's College of Arts and Sciences, and colleagues at the universities of Massachusetts and Maryland reveals that fewer than 10 percent of African-American mitochondrial DNA sequences that were analyzed can be matched to mitochondrial DNA from one single African ethnic group. Mitochondrial DNA is the portion of the body's genetic code that is inherited from the mother. In recent years, mitochondrial DNA has become a popular way for tracing maternal ancestry and often is used by companies hired by African Americans to help them trace their ancestry in Africa. "Many people have had their mitochondrial DNA tested with the hope of finding a match in a particular ethnic group in Africa," said Ely, who has been working on this project for about four years. "For African Americans, such a test could provide a clue about the ethnic group or country in Africa where one of their maternal ancestors originated," he said. However, the researchers found that only one in 10 African Americans may be able to find clues about their ancestral origins if mitochondrial DNA is tested. At first glance, it seems that this DNA test would be a good place to start, Ely said. Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to daughter with few, if any, changes occurring over many generations. But the task is particularly difficult in Africa because there is more genetic diversity among Africans than among people from any other continent and because humanity has been in Africa longer than anywhere else, Ely said. Another complication is that DNA is spread geographically as people migrate. Thus, identical mitochondrial DNA can be found in people throughout sub-Saharan Africa, he said. For the study, Ely and his colleagues relied on a database of more than 3,700 mitochondrial DNA sequences obtained from people in sub-Saharan Africa. They also used two African-American samples, including people who identify themselves as "Gullah/Geechee" and live along the islands off the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia. The researchers, who were acknowledged for their work on the highly acclaimed PBS series, "African American Lives," found that more than half of the African-American DNA sequences were found in many different sub-Saharan ethnic groups.

Forty percent of the African-American sequences did not match any sequences in the database, and fewer than 10 percent were an exact match to a sequence from a single African ethnic group.

"We need to establish larger databases of DNA as we continue this project," Ely said. "However, we do know that, for most African Americans, it is impossible to use only mitochondrial DNA to determine a single ethnic group as the source of the maternal ancestor."

The study was supported with funding from the National Science Foundation.

To read the study, go to www.biomedcentral.com/bmcbiol/.

Columbia, SC 29208 • 803-777-5400 • uscnews@sc.edu Contact: Juliette Savin press@biomedcentral.com 44-020-763-19931 BioMed Central

American tax system has structural biases that favor whites over blacks

Professor of Law .Professor of Sociology, Voice: (615) 322-6760, Fax: (615) 322-6631, Email: beverly.moran@vanderbilt.edu Office: Room 241 Research Interest(s) Tax law, Education: LL.M. New York University, J.D. University of Pennsylvania, A.B. Vassar College. Beverly Moran is a leading tax scholar whose recent scholarship includes a path-breaking analysis of the disparate impact of the federal tax code on blacks and an innovative new text on the taxation of charities and other exempt organizations. She has won a number of teaching awards and grants, including a Fulbright award and a grant from the Ford Foundation, and has been a visiting professor at the University of Colorado, the University of Asmara in Eritrea, and the University of Giessen in Germany. Professor Moran's interests also include law and development, interdisciplinary scholarship and comparative law.

We expect different taxpayers to pay different taxes but we don't expect our taxes to differ based on race. Yet, because legislators try to use taxes to improve our lives without much of a clue of the lives we lead, their good intentions create a black/white tax difference that repeats itself over many scenarios. So, how does it happen that the white bus driver who greets us in the morning pays a different tax than the black bus driver who greets us each night? It has to do with the different ways that blacks and whites live in America. Consider: Blacks are less likely to marry than whites. When blacks do marry, they are more likely to have both husband and wife work. But, when white spouses both work, they out-earn their black counterparts. Finally, blacks are more likely to die before or shortly after retirement age than whites. All these facts add up to blacks receiving less from Social Security than similarly situated whites. Social Security pays separate homemaker benefits to non-working spouses equal to 50 percent of the working spouse's benefit — even though only one person pays into Social Security. Thus, single worker families get an extra benefit at no additional cost. Two working spouses each earning the Social Security maximum will receive up to 25 percent more than the homemaker couple but will pay proportionally more for that benefit as well. The working couple with a spouse earning less than the Social Security maximum is even worse off because they pay for a benefit that they could have received for free if one spouse had stayed home. Worst off is the taxpayer who dies before receiving any benefits. Home ownership has a number of well known income tax benefits. The long history of private and government action excluding blacks from the housing market translates into all of these benefits being less accessible to blacks than to whites of the same income, marital status, education and other significant factors.

A long history of slavery and government wealth transfers to whites has led to a black/white wealth gap much larger than the black/white income gap. Exclusion for wealth appreciation in all assets until sale, exclusions for pension earnings, the limited and disappearing gift and estate tax, all benefit whites more than blacks because whites hold so much more wealth than blacks. Even on the state and local levels, taxes that appear completely race-neutral have race effects such as underfunding education in minority school districts.

It is not surprising that seemingly neutral laws have hidden race impacts when statutes are constructed based on vague ideas that are essentially inaccurate for everyone and are particularly off the mark for and to the detriment of black families. As we continue the presidential election season, we should consider instituting a race expenditure budget along the lines of the tax expenditure budget produced each year in order to track the cost of deductions, exclusions and other tax benefits.

If legislators had better information about the race impact of their tax decisions, America would have a fairer tax code.

Beverly Moran is professor of law and of sociology at Vanderbilt University.

From, VUCast: Vanderbilt University's News Network This op-ed originally ran in The Tennessean Media contact: Jennifer Johnson, (615) 322-NEWS jennifer.johnston@vanderbilt.edu

In Many U.S. Cities, Blacks More Likely Than Whites to Live in Poor Quality Nursing Homes

David Barton Smith, PhD. Research Professor, Center for Health Equality Department of Health Management and Policy. Phone: 215.762.7448. Email: dbs33@drexel.edu Professor Smith received his Ph.D. in Health Services Research from The University of Michigan. He was awarded a 1995 Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Research Investigator Award for research on the history and legacy of the racial segregation of health care and continues to do research, write and give lectures on this topic at medical and law schools across the country. He is the author or co-author of five books on the organization of health services, the most recent being, Health Care Divided: Race and Healing a Nation (The University of Michigan Press 1999), and Reinventing Care: Assisted Living in New York City (Vanderbilt University Press 2003). The latter book propelled legislative reform in the regulation of assisted living in New York State. He is also author of Long Term Care in Transition: the Regulation of Nursing Homes (Health Administration Press 1981) that helped initiate quality of care reforms in that decade.

Poorer Quality of Care In Nursing Homes Linked To Racial Segregation; Nursing Homes in Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Cleveland Have Greatest Disparities. In metropolitan areas across the United States, blacks are more likely than whites to live in poor quality nursing homes, according to a study of Health Affairs. The problem is most acute in the Midwest. After ranking metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) based on disparities between blacks and whites in access to quality nursing homes, researchers found that 10 of the 20 nursing homes with the greatest disparities in quality of care were located in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. The metropolitan area with the greatest disparity in care is Milwaukee, where blacks are more than twice as likely as whites to live in a nursing home with significant inspection deficiencies, substantial staffing shortages, and financial problems. The study showed that inequalities in care are closely correlated to racial segregation. Researchers found that nursing homes in the Cleveland metropolitan area were the most segregated, followed closely by Gary, Ind., Milwaukee, Detroit, Indianapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Harrisburg, Pa., Toledo, Ohio, and Cincinnati (A complete list of the 147 MSA rankings is available in a separate document). At the same time, researchers found that nursing homes in the South were least likely to have unequal racial distribution of residents relative to residential racial composition. And only four Southern urban centers – Houston, West Palm Beach, Fla., Richmond, Va. and Winston-Salem, N.C. – landed in the top 20 metropolitan areas with the highest level of racial disparities in nursing home quality. The study, supported by the Commonwealth Fund, is the first to document this relationship between racial segregation and quality disparities in U.S. nursing homes.

The study was co-authored by David Barton Smith and Jacqueline S. Zinn of Temple University, and Zhanlian Feng, Mary L. Fennell, and Vincent Mor of Brown University.

In their analysis, researchers looked at racial segregation in 147 MSAs, with 7,196 nursing homes, caring for more than 800,000 residents. Researchers used the Dissimilarity Index, the most common measure of residential segregation. The index indicates the combined percentage of residents of both races who would have to be relocated for there to be an equal proportion of blacks and whites in the nursing home.

The researchers found that:

* Blacks were nearly three times as likely as whites to be located in a nursing home housing predominantly Medicaid residents.
* Blacks were nearly twice as likely as whites to be located in a nursing home that was subsequently terminated from Medicare and Medicaid participation because of poor quality.
* Blacks were 1.41 times as likely as whites to be in a nursing home that had been cited with a deficiency causing actual harm or immediate jeopardy to residents.
* Blacks were 1.12 times as likely as whites to reside in a nursing home that was greatly understaffed.

"This study shows us that racial segregation has a significant impact on the quality of care received by nursing home residents," said Smith, a professor at Temple University and lead author of the study. "While it is important to eliminate disparities in care within nursing homes to achieve full equity, our research indicates that it is far more important to eliminate persistent patterns of segregation and the differences in the quality of care between nursing homes that tend to serve blacks as opposed to whites."

According to the research, blacks make up about 15 percent of all U.S. nursing home residents. Yet around 60 percent of black residents were concentrated in less than 10 percent of those homes. The 10 percent of U.S. nursing homes in which blacks reside tend to be in the bottom quartile with respect to quality, the study showed.

"Blacks and whites aren't getting different care in the same nursing homes. They're getting different care because they live in different nursing homes," said Mor, chairman of the Department of Community Health at Brown University and lead investigator on the study. "In the same urban areas, blacks are more likely to be concentrated in substandard nursing homes—homes with smaller budgets, smaller staffs and poorer regulatory performance."

"People being admitted to nursing homes understandably want to stay close to family members but exercising that choice should not put them in greater jeopardy of receiving poor quality care. The degree of the disparity in quality revealed by this study is unacceptable," said Commonwealth Fund Assistant Vice President for Quality of Care for Frail Elders, Mary Jane Koren, M.D. "If we are to ensure access to high quality health care for all we must address the stark differences in care provided by facilities that serve a predominantly minority population."

The study authors offered recommendations for policy changes that could improve the quality of care in nursing homes and potentially eliminate the disparities highlighted by the study. Their recommendations include:

* improvements to payment structures for nursing homes with a high proportion of Medicaid residents;
* closing the gap between the amount paid to nursing homes by Medicaid and private payers;
* broader regional planning in response to concerns about racial disparities; and
* ongoing monitoring of admissions practices to ensure that they meet Civil Rights Act requirements.

The Commonwealth Fund is an independent foundation working toward health policy reform and a high performance health system.

Brown University is an internationally known Ivy League institution with a distinctive undergraduate academic curriculum, outstanding faculty, state-of-the-art research facilities, and a tradition of innovative and rigorous multidisciplinary study. For more information, visit www.brown.edu

Health Affairs, published by Project HOPE, is the leading journal of health policy. The peer-reviewed journal appears bimonthly in print with additional online-only papers published weekly as Health Affairs Web Exclusives at www.healthaffairs.org. Copies of the September/ October 2007 issue will be provided free to interested members of the press. Journalists may also access content on the Health Affairs Web site after the embargo lifts by using the press username 'media' and the password 'november'. Address inquiries to Christopher Fleming at Health Affairs, 301-347-3944, or via e-mail, cfleming@projecthope.org

Temple University's Fox School of Business is the largest, most comprehensive business school in the greater Philadelphia region and among the largest in the world, with more than 6,000 students, 150 full-time faculty members and 51,000 alumni. For more information, visit www.fox.temple.edu

Commonwealth Contact(s): Mary Mahon Public Information Officer TEL 212-606-3853, cell phone 917-225-2314, mm@cmwf.org Bethanne Fox (301) 576-6359