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Race |
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Cleveland is a diverse city with a large existence of black and Hispanic communities. It is evident that more attention is drawn to the Black population when the media addresses AIDS. However, data proves that the Hispanic community is in great need of help. according to a study done by the CDC in 2000, the rate of Hispanics infected (915 per 100,000) with HIV/AIDS in Cleveland is almost twice as much as the black rate (610 per 100,000) and over three times the white rate (313 per 100,000) (4). It is no surprise then that there is a significant correlation coefficient between the percent Hispanic in each neighborhood and the HIV/AIDS rate, .3512, as well as between the percent Hispanic and AIDS rate, .3507 . One neighborhood that reflects and solidifies the significance of the Latino correlation is Clark-Fulton. The neighborhood houses much of Cleveland’s Hispanic community and the highways of I-71 and I-90 have served to isolate the neighborhood from surrounding areas (3). It is important to note that “Hispanic” is not clearly defined in the studies administered and there is some ambiguity as to the true definition of this race. 
The Hispanic correlation is obviously positive, while the relationships concerning the White and Black percentages are more counterintuitive. Because of the attention in the Black population receives by the Media, it would be reasonable to assume that the percent Black in a neighborhood would have a significant positive correlation so it is perplexing the relationship is negative and insignificant. One would also assume that the white percent has a negative correlation to both AIDS and HIV/AIDS rates. So, it is surprising to find that the percent African American negatively correlates (correlation coefficients of -.1054 and -.1502) and the Percent White positively correlates (correlation coefficients of.0505 and .0975) with both the HIV/AIDS and AIDS rates, even though all of these correlations are insignificant. After studying the scatter plot graphs, it is evident that the correlation direction is caused by one outlying neighborhood- Edgewater. Edgewater affects the outcome of most of the correlation coefficients because although it is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Cleveland, having an Median Household Income of 28,156 compared to Cleveland’s average 25,928 (4), it also contains most of the gay population and a high percentage of the AIDS and HIV/AIDS cases in Cleveland. Edgewater has an AIDS rate of 1,213.4 per 100,000 and HIV/AIDS rate of 1866.8 which is astronomical compared to the Cleveland average rates of 301.8 and 513.8 respectively (4). When Edgewater was omitted in the calculation of correlation coefficients for the White and Black percent per neighborhood the coefficients changed dramatically.
The correlation coefficient between the white percent and AIDS rate shifted from .0975 to -.0248.
 The coefficient between the white percent and HIV/AIDS rate shifted from .0505 to -.0719.
 The correlation coefficient between the Black percent and the AIDS rate adjusted from -.1528 to -.0631.
The correlation coefficient between the Black percent and the HIV/AIDS rate adjusted from -.1054 to -.0136. The correlation coefficient between the Black percent and the AIDS rate adjusted from -.1528 to -.0631. Although Edgewater changed the outcome of the correlation coefficients, the Black rate correlation coefficient is still insignificant and negative. The correlation takes a different direction and magnitude than one would expect in view of the media’s constant attention on the impact of AIDS on the African American community in Cleveland.
When Edgewater was excluded in the calculation of the correlation coefficients concerning the Hispanic rate the numbers jump from .3507 to .440934 for the HIV/AIDS rate.
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