Rural and black voters have several common flashpoints. One of them is not being controlled by white, urban, privileged elites. Yet that is precisely what the Biden Administration is attempting with its proposed ban on menthol cigarettes. This is not a smoking issue. This is a control of black people (and menthol smokers generally) issue. And lest you be unsure about this, the Editorial Board of the Washington Post recently doubled down on this in its 19 January 2024 Opinion “Save Black lives. Ban menthol cigarettes.” Wow. White people coming to the rescue of Black people. This article was written by a group of wealthy white urban people deciding how black people should live their lives. I long ago learned a lesson in Black-White Relations 101: Black people do not want White people saving them. They can make their own decisions, thank you very much. It is clear that not a single person on the Editorial Board of the Washington Post has ever dated a black man.
A personal anecdote
Every black person I have dated has told me that the menthol cigarette is the “Black Cigarette.” Statistics bear this out: 75% of black smokers smoke menthols. I’m a non-smoker and would never have known this otherwise. Now fast forward to last year.
My adopted daughter finally met her black biological father last year. We had a lovely encounter and about halfway through our visit he asked if there was somewhere he could have a cigarette. Being completely agnostic on smoking I said of course and took him out on the deck. When he pulled out his menthols I chuckled and said “Menthols, huh?” He laughed and said “Yep – gotta smoke the black cigarette.”
I then mentioned that “they” were contemplating banning the menthol cigarette. He became very animated and said “Yes! Another example of white people trying to control black people’s lives.” I agreed. He then said something very telling: “President Trump would never allow this. That’s why I’m voting for him.” It’s always the little things that matter. And I had to agree that definitely this would never happen on Trump’s watch and that yes, it is a valid reason to vote for Trump.
The issue
I support the right to choose. Whether it’s to choose an abortion or to choose how to live one’s life. If we were to ban all of the things that shorten one’s life, the list would be endless. I trust that people will make whatever choice is best for them.
And every black smoker I have met is well aware of all of the dangers of smoking including the enhanced risk of menthol cigarettes. Black people aren’t stupid or uninformed, as the Post opinion piece would imply. And apparently the Post couldn’t find any group of black smokers who supported their opinion piece. Instead they had to trot out a meaningless group of people called “Black experts” in the public health community. Well yes, of course -- that’s their job. There is no other position these “Black experts” could take. And the Post simply substituted a group of privileged white urban elites for a different group of privileged black urban elites. And no one would disagree with the public health side of this. It’s the control side that is an issue. What do the “Black experts” on white people exerting control over Black people say about this issue? Indeed the Post dismissed all of the concerns of the “Black community” as having been “encouraged by the tobacco industry.” Wow – the Post really doesn’t think Black people can navigate this world on their own.
And I have had almost exactly the same conversation with a rural menthol smoker. The only difference was that the response was “Yet another reason to vote for Trump.” I suspect that voter was always going to vote for Trump and that this is simply another nail in the coffin.
I disagree with the Post. This isn’t simply a Machiavellian political decision not to move forward with the cigarette ban. It is also a freedom of choice and control issue. Why on earth are we having this discussion in an election year. It just seems like a reckless destruction of Democratic votes backed by terrible logic.
The Washington Post article would be more accurately captioned as “Exert control over Black lives and help Trump get elected – Ban menthol cigarettes.”