Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is undisputedly the most significant public health problem facing the Black community today. From the outset, it was apparent that the disease disproportionately affected Blacks. In 1981, when AIDS was first identified, 21.5 percent of the first 107 cases were Blacks and Hispanics. This report discusses the following issues: (1) heterosexual spread of AIDS; (2) reporting of AIDS in the Black community; (3) peculiar clinical manifestations of AIDS in Blacks; (4) stigmatizing of Haitians in the United States; (5) the hemophiliac response to AIDS; (6) the gay movement response to AIDS; and (7) AIDS in Africa. The best epidemiological evidence suggests that the Black community should concentrate on the following primary means of transmittal of the virus: (1) sexual contact; (2) dirty drug needles; and (3) infection at birth as a result of the mother's disease. Recommendations for each of these are made. Because the educational system is failing for Blacks, AIDS education in the schools will probably have little effect on the prevalence of the disease in the Black community. The Black community must work to solve the social, economic, and educational problems that contribute to the spread of AIDS. Data are presented on 2 tables. A bibliography of 17 items is included. (BJV)