This week, the Food and Drug Administration will be hosting listening sessions ahead of its proposed ban on menthol cigarettes. While the attending bureaucrats will certainly rehash the data we’ve known for decades about the dangers of smoking, they’ll also be hearing a new spin from progressives: Banning menthol is essential to achieve “racial equity.”
Black Americans do not need the government to prohibit them from smoking, drinking, eating fast food, or any other behavior the FDA frowns upon – especially when it could exasperate the already fraught relationship between police and the black community. Let us never forget the lives of children who don’t have the advantage of a responsible and loving parent. It will take privileged people from all walks of life to recognize and appreciate their privilege and then find multiple ways to help those who lack knowledge and privilege to gain knowledge and privilege.
Black Americans do not need the government to prohibit them from smoking, drinking, eating fast food, or any other behavior the FDA frowns upon – especially when it could exasperate the already fraught relationship between police and the black community. Let us never forget the lives of children who don’t have the advantage of a responsible and loving parent. It will take privileged people from all walks of life to recognize and appreciate their privilege and then find multiple ways to help those who lack knowledge and privilege to gain knowledge and privilege.
Mr. Moore, who was of African American and Native American descent, was committed to preserving the past as a curator, author and savior of New York City landmarks.