Because Black lives matter, we must confront one of the leading killers of African Americans: flavored tobacco.
The Chicago City Council is considering an ordinance to ban the sale of products like chocolate cigarillos and strawberry blast e-cigarettes that attract youth more than traditional tobacco flavor. Passing it would be a big step toward racial equity.
Big Tobacco has targeted African Americans with flavored tobacco for five decades. Newport, for instance, has put advertisements, free samples and coupons for menthol-flavored products in Black neighborhoods. Menthol cigarettes — now the main product used by Black smokers — are especially addictive and hard to quit.
SEND LETTERS TO: letters@suntimes.com. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes.
African Americans must take back our health from an industry that has taken so much from us.
To be sure, Black youth aren’t the only ones getting hooked. Vaping and other tobacco use is soaring among young people across the board — with most saying “fun flavors” are why they started. Black youth are especially likely to start with menthol products.
We cannot lose another generation to Big Tobacco’s predatory practices.
Efforts to improve Black health are particularly important given the devastating impact of COVID-19. African Americans are dying at higher rates due in part to underlying chronic diseases — which, more than anything, are caused by tobacco.
In Chicago, there’s a nine-year life expectancy gap between Black and white residents. Tobacco-related diseases such as lung cancer account for two years of that gap. To advance equity, Chicago must quit flavored tobacco.
Aldermen are already receiving pressure from tobacco companies and retailers to bury the ordinance — or, failing that, to weaken it by carving out certain flavors.
We’ve seen it before. In 2009, Congress banned flavorings in traditional cigarettes but exempted menthol, leading more youth to use it.
Fortunately, jurisdictions including Massachusetts and Oakland have stepped up by banning all flavors in all products. But many other recent bans are tragically maintaining the menthol exemption.
We can’t let that happen in Chicago. To exempt menthol is to exempt Black health. African Americans have been dying early for long enough. If anything, City Council should strengthen the ordinance by adding funding for tobacco cessation programs to help those who are already hooked.
We urge aldermen to pass the flavored tobacco ban and keep it strong. Black lives depend on it.
Phoenix A. Matthews, associate dean for Equity and Inclusion at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Bishop Horace Smith, MD, pediatric hematologist and oncologist at Children’s Memorial Hospital. Dr. Smith is also a member of the Chicago Board of Health and pastor of Apostolic Faith Church on Chicago’s South Side.
When will we be one nation?
There’s a wonderful, moving observation about the Civil War from historian Shelby Foote:
Before the war, it was said, “The United States are...” Grammatically, it was spoken that way and thought of as a collection of independent states. After the war, it was always “The United States is...” — as we say today without being self-conscious at all. And that sums up what the war accomplished. It made us an “is.”
It is a stirring sentiment. But I don’t think it has been true during my lifetime. My first real exposure to politics was the Civil Rights movement and everything around it. The South was still fighting the Civil War using voter suppression, dogs, fire hoses, murder and the lame shield of “states’ rights.”
The fight is reduced somewhat now. No more dogs turned loose on demonstrators, no fire hoses. But people still claim states rights and argue over flags and statues of people who fought to break the nation in two. Voter suppression is on the rise since the Voting Rights Act was crippled by the Supreme Court. And there are still murders.
In a real way, the Civil War is not completely over and “The United States is...” does not yet apply. When will we finally be one nation?
Michael Hart, West Ridge
