Says a headline to an editorial in the L.A. Times, and I haven't read the text yet, but I don't know which way it's a racial justice issue.
I know black people who smoke are more likely than white people to prefer menthol cigarettes, and that previous efforts to ban flavored tobacco products have made an exception for the flavor menthol. They won't just ban all tobacco products, but they could attack what was purportedly aimed at children — flavored-added things. But they made an exception for the traditional flavor menthol. I think now there's a move to ban menthol too, and that will have a disparate impact on black people.
But which way does "racial justice" cut? I thought that the exception for menthol favored black people, so maybe banning menthol cigarettes is a racial justice issue because it would deprive them — more than white people — of something they've been choosing for themselves. But it could also be a racial justice issue because it would deter them from using a harmful product, since they — more than white people — will be deprived of the form of the product that they prefer, so maybe they'll cut back or quit.
Now, I'll read the editorial. Excerpt:
The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council and other public health groups sued over the government’s failure to regulate menthol, despite compelling evidence of its harm. In November, a judge rejected the government’s bid to dismiss the case, and Thursday’s announcement was the settlement. It’s a victory for public health nonetheless, no matter what the American Civil Liberties Union says. The ACLU and other civil rights groups sent a letter Monday to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock arguing against a menthol ban, claiming that it would perpetuate overpolicing in Black communities. But the FDA ban would not criminalize possession of menthol cigarettes, just remove them from the market.... ...Black public health advocates contend, and we agree, that the bigger injustice is allowing tobacco companies to continue to push their deadly product on communities of color.
So it's a racial justice issue because there are racial justice issues on both sides, but the L.A. Times has decided that there's more racial justice in taking away what black people choose for themselves than in letting them decide. It's paternalism. And it's infantilism, because the editors won't credit black consumers with the power to make their own choices: the tobacco companies are pushing their product on "communities of color," so the choice is not real choice.
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