Almost two weeks ago a study was released that pretty much blew me away.

The study was a survey of 1,000 black church members in five U.S. cities dealing with their perceptions of the AIDS virus.

According to the survey, more than one-third of those surveyed believe the AIDS virus was produced in a germ warfare laboratory as a form of genocide against black people. Another one-third said they were “unsure”if AIDS was created to kill African-Americans. That means only one-third of those surveyed believed that their government had not engineered a virus to systematically kill them.

The results of this survey are a huge wake-up call to America. Bigger than the O.J. trial, bigger than Mike Tyson, the 1992 riots or the Million Man March.

These other high-profile incidents cannot possibly say as much about the mindset of a group of people as the fact that less than 33 percent of black people (if the survey is accurate) don’t believe their government would attempt to wipe them off the face of the planet.

Sound absurd? I thought so. I know people who subscribe to this conspiracy theory, both black and white. To me it was always laughable, ludicrous that the U.S. government would ever select a demographic group and unleash a harmful disease on them like so many guinea pigs. No way, right?

Anyone remember the recent evidence that indicated that between 1932 and 1972, the U.S. government withheld treatment from 399 poor black men with syphilis in order to study the consequences of the disease? Perhaps the theory is not so outrageous after all.

I still don’t buy the AIDS conspiracy theory. But what is most important about this survey is that the results would seem to indicate black people not only have no faith in their government, but many believe the government is actively campaigning to kill them. There’s a blanket statement: “Black people believe…” Hate to make those.

In the aftermath of the O.J. verdict, people were shocked to discover just how wide the gap is in perception between white and black people in this country.

It’s become rather obvious that these differences in perception and attitude often run deep and wide. So what do we do about it?

I have no idea.

Some would say the most effective way to understand where another race is coming from is to get to know members of that race. However, have you ever seen this argument before? “I’m not a racist! A lot of my friends are black!”

To many white people, this is a valid argument against a charge of racism. To many black people, this is a textbook illustration of “cop-out.”

Another solution is for people of all races to come together to try to oppose and educate those with racist perceptions.

But you look at recent events within the NAACP, this doesn’t seem to be a very appealing option to people, either.

Louis Farrakhan has been urging African-Americans to join the NAACP. Norman A. Lockman, a columnist for the Wilmington News Journal, alludes to the fact that Farrakhan and former chairman William Gibson believe the NAACP was been influenced negatively by white, liberal corporations who support their organization.

Apparently, Lockman hints, black organizations feel they’re combatting a problem that blacks must face without help from white people.

So perhaps another option is for white people to step aside, and let black people handle this incredibly complex issue themselves.

But racism is something that does affect us all, isn’t it? Whatever your perception about race and racism is, we’re all affected.

Yet nobody seems to have come up the a better solution than, “Hey, man. Let’s just get along.”

That doesn’t cut it for a lot of folks. And while it may work on a personal level, in the grand scheme of things it just doesn’t seem to be paying off.

I have no clue how I can help. I question whether people even want me to help. For some reason there is a reluctance to really tackle racism. We talk about it, hold forums about it, write columns about it … blah blah blah.

But all that ever seems to result in is arguments over historical facts and events. We’re so concerned over where we came from and where we are (and we should be), but is anyone looking at where we’re headed? Are there solutions? Do people want solutions?

No matter what someone comes up with to alleviate this problem, somebody else stands up and declares that person a hypocrite, a fool, condescending or devious. And half the time the people thought they were going to be on the same side.

I could go on for pages about this issue. So could all of you, probably. And would we ever get any closer to a positive resolution? Don’t know.

But something needs to be done. We can’t sit back and let this crap continue. I’m tired of being ashamed. I’m tired of being angry. I’m tired of being confused. I’m tired of being misunderstood and misunderstanding other people. And I’m guessing I’m not the only one.

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Tim Davis is a junior from Carlisle. He is the editor of the Opinion Page.