The Black Lives Matter movement has already made it clear that, to paraphrase George Orwell, while Black lives matter, some Black lives matter more than others. Al Sharpton, in his endless quest for political power, this time through Big Tobacco, just sent that very message to American Blacks.

Nobody is saying the name of David Dorn. He's the retired Black police officer who was (allegedly until proven in court) murdered during a violent rampage in purported support of Black lives. The life of Ma'Khia Bryant, whom a police officer shot while she was on bodycam video menacing another Black person with a knife, mattered; that of the other Black person, not so much. Had the police officer not fired, the woman in the pink outfit would be just another violent crime victim but, as matters stand, the extreme Left has yet another name to say while it bashes those whom it calls "pigs."

Now we have Al Sharpton, the "civil rights leader" who comes across as subordinating Black lives to Big Tobacco in exchange for the latter's support of his National Action Network. "Recently, R.J. Reynolds funded the National Action Network, a civil rights organization founded by Reverend Al Sharpton, to conduct community forums to build opposition to local action to prohibit menthol cigarettes."

Most African-American leaders agree that the government should ban menthol cigarettes because of the carnage these products wreak in their communities (as well as among Caucasian and other smokers), and with good reason.  Menthol is a topical anesthetic that makes it useful in sore throat remedies and arthritis creams.  Using menthol to suppress discomfort from a sore throat is a desirable feature.  Using menthol cigarettes, however, to suppress warnings from the smoker's respiratory tract that he is inhaling a dangerous mixture of nicotine, particulates, and carcinogens is decidedly undesirable. 

In addition, "[d]espite starting smoking later and smoking fewer packs per day, African American menthol smokers successfully quit at a lower rate than non-menthol smoking African Americans."  The CDC adds, "African American adults have the highest percentage of menthol cigarette use compared to other racial and ethnic groups.  Menthol in cigarettes is thought to make harmful chemicals more easily absorbed in the body, likely because menthol makes it easier to inhale cigarette smoke."

Al Sharpton, of Tawana Brawley, Crown Heights, and Freddy's Fashion Mart infamy            — the same Al Sharpton with whom prominent Democrats including Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Charles Schumer, Merrick Garland, and Hillary Clinton appear regularly — contends, however, that it "would be discriminatory to outlaw a product that is especially popular among African Americans."  It's really woke of Al Sharpton to support a product that kills tens of thousands of Black people annually (along with menthol smokers of every other race) so he can be the civil rights hero he wants everybody to believe he is.  But it gets even worse.

Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury comic strip features Mr. Butts, a giant talking cigarette who personifies the tobacco industry.  We have already seen that Al Sharpton's National Action Network is on Mr. Butts's payroll ("His National Action Network has long received big donations from R.J. Reynolds, the maker of Newports, the nation's top-selling menthol brand").  Salon, which is hardly a right-wing source, adds, "Tobacco giant uses Al Sharpton, other black leaders to combat menthol restrictions" and names former Florida congressman Kendrick B. Meek as another participant.

Sharpton and his associates argue that a menthol ban will give police another excuse to arrest Black people.  However, the bottom line is that, if menthol cigarettes are made illegal, tobacco companies will not be able to mass-produce them at a low cost.  That means that users of all races will have to buy them on the black market at a high cost.  This will discourage their use and reduce the annual death toll from tobacco.  Legislatures and government agencies could also construct laws and regulations to penalize only the sellers and not the buyers.

The defenders of menthol cigarettes are therefore citing a phony issue while facilitating the deaths of tens of thousands of people whose Black lives seem to mean less than Big Tobacco's money means to Sharpton and the NAN.  In the meantime, I encourage Garry Trudeau to depict Al Sharpton arm in arm with Mr. Butts to show where the good "civil rights activist" really stands — and it is not with the well-being of African-Americans.

Civis Americanus is the pen name of a contributor who remembers the lessons of history and wants to ensure that our country never needs to learn those lessons again the hard way.  The author is remaining anonymous due to the likely prospect of being subjected to "cancel culture" for exposing the Big Lie behind Black Lives Matter. 

Image: Man smoking (cropped) by Dapo Abideen from Pexels.

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