(I also hope that for every group of African
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teenagers who express a keen desire - like some did on the programme
- to distance themselves from their culture for fear of being identified
as African and therefore, in their minds, inferior, there are far more
who embrace their cultural heritage with great pride.)
But this issue is one of divisiveness and therefore needs to be brought
out into the open. At the very least, maybe, it will now merit further
discussion.
The notion of a cultural chasm may go some way to explain a situation
currently witnessed in the field of HIV services. Due to the high incidence
rate among that client group, most services set up for ethnic minorities
have been geared towards sub-Saharan Africans. The wisdom of continuing
with this approach in the light of current infection rates among people
from other sectors of the black community is questionable. According to
surveillance figures, the incidence of HIV among Black-Caribbeans in Lambeth,
Southwark and Lewisham Health Authority trebled between 1994 and 1998,
and trebled across the UK as a whole between 1995 and 2000. Yet the numbers
of positive Caribbeans accessing HIV services do not reflect this increase
in need. How come?
Well, all things considered, it's entirely possible that due to the tensions
that Sorious Samura's programme has brought to light, some Caribbeans
have qualms about using services, thinking that those provided for black
people are only for Africans.
There are other possibilities to consider. Desmond Elliott, the former
Black
Communities Development Worker at Lighthouse South, has this to say: "There is still a lot of denial amongst people from the Caribbean about
