The AIDS Crisis

1. Set Focus
Pose these essential questions: How does fear affect people? What can a government do to mitigate fears related to a public crisis?

2. List Vocabulary
Share some of the challenging vocabulary words in the article (see below). Encourage students to use context to infer meanings as they read.

• contracted (p. 19)
• eradicating (p. 19)
• succumb (p. 19)
• misconceptions (p. 20)
• stigmas (p. 20)
• chronic (p. 21)

3. Engage
Ask: When do you think the first case of AIDS was reported in the U.S.? How do you think the public initially reacted to the AIDS epidemic?

4. Read and Discuss
Ask students to read the Upfront article about the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and ‘90s. Review why the article is a secondary source. (It was written by someone who didn’t personally experience or witness the events.) Then pose these critical-thinking questions:

• What have scientists determined about how H.I.V. passed to humans from animals? How long do scientists think H.I.V. has been in the U.S.? When were the first cases of what would later be called AIDS first reported in the U.S.? (Scientists have determined that H.I.V. likely passed from chimpanzees to humans who were hunting in Central Africa. Scientists think the virus has been in the U.S. since at least the 1970s. The first cases of what would later be called AIDS were reported in the U.S. in the 1980s.) 

• According to the article, why was the government slow to respond to the AIDS epidemic? What did activists do to pressure the government to take action? (According to the article, the government was slow to respond to the epidemic because of the stigmas associated with the LGBTQ community. To pressure the government to take action, AIDS activists staged demonstrations to draw attention to the crisis and met with officials to help shape the government’s research on new drugs and to lower drug prices.)

• Review the graph and map. What do they help you understand about H.I.V. and AIDS? Does anything surprise you in these graphic features? (Responses will vary, but students should support their points with details from the graph or map. Students may note that the graph helps them understand when AIDS deaths reached their peak and that the map helps them understand where H.I.V. is still prevalent today.)

• According to the article, many experts see parallels between the AIDS epidemic and the Covid-19 pandemic. Do you see parallels? If so, what are they? If not, how do you think the two are different? (Responses will vary, but students should support their ideas with evidence from the text. Students may note that the crises are similar in relation to the fears, lies, and rumors that swirled around both.)

5. Use the Primary Sources
Project, distribute, or assign in Google Classroom the PDF ‘I Have AIDS,’ which features excerpts from Ryan White’s testimony before the 1988 Presidential Commission on AIDS. Discuss what makes the speech a primary source. (It provides firsthand evidence concerning the topic.) Have students read the excerpts and answer the questions below (which appear on the PDF without answers).

• How would you describe the tone and purpose of these excerpts from Ryan’s testimony? (The tone can be described as straightforward and honest. Ryan’s purpose was to inform the public about the harassment and discrimination he faced because of his medical condition and to help educate the public regarding the truth about how AIDS is transmitted.)

• Based on Ryan’s testimony, what was known about AIDS and what fears did people have about AIDS at the time? (Ryan’s comment about the doctors telling him that he was not contagious indicates that scientists knew at the time that H.I.V. is not transmitted through casual contact. Ryan’s comments about the school barring him from attending, parents starting their own school, and people refusing to sit near him suggest they feared they could catch AIDS just by being near Ryan.)

• Ryan says, “We decided to meet them halfway.” What does he mean? How did he and his mom meet them halfway? (He means that he and his mom decided to compromise. Ryan wanted to go to school and live a normal life. He and his mom compromised by agreeing to separate restrooms and other conditions so that Ryan would be allowed to return to school.) 

• Ryan’s testimony is often credited with helping to change mindsets about AIDS and inspire a greater sense of compassion. Why do you think that is? (Responses will vary, but students may point out that Ryan’s being clear about how he was not contagious yet having to deal with being harassed and ostracized made many people realize how awful it was to discriminate against people with AIDS.)

• What are the dangers of stigmatizing a disease based on the communities most at risk and of the government’s delaying addressing an epidemic? Support your response with details from the Upfront article and Ryan’s testimony. (Responses will vary, but ideas should be supported by evidence from both texts. Students may note that stigmatizing a disease in that way as well as the government’s delaying in addressing an epidemic can result in people not seeking out information about the disease and believing false rumors.)

6. Writing Prompt
Imagine the AIDS crisis began last year. Do you think the government would respond differently from how it did in the 1980s? Do you think the public’s response would be different? Explain in a one-page essay.

7. Quiz
Use the quiz to assess comprehension.

8. Classroom Debate
Should lifesaving medications be free?

9. Speaking With Meaning
Assign each student a paragraph from the Primary Source. Have students make notes about how to best deliver the paragraph as a speech (e.g., words to emphasize, when to pause). After students present their paragraphs to the class, have them explain their presentation choices.