In a New York Times editorial published on March 30 (nytimes.com, 3/30), Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof addressed recent comments made by Barack Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah White, that argued that AIDS was created by the United States government to eradicate blacks.

In the editorial, Kristof writes that 30 percent of African Americans believe that the long-standing theory is plausible.

Kristof says, however, that “conspiracy theories and irrationality aren’t a black problem: they are an American problem.” He suggests that American conspiracy theories are prevalent across all racial and economic groups, citing a 2006 study that found that 36 percent of Americans believe that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were engineered by the U.S. government to justify an invasion of Iraq.

To read a December 2007 POZ column on black AIDS conspiracy theories by HIV-positive black contributor Jesse Cameron Alick, click here.

To read a December 2000 column on the topic by late POZ editor and columnist LeRoy Whitfield, also black and HIV positive, click here.