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FIRST ON FOX: A outstanding civil rights leader blasted the Biden administration’s proposed menthol cigarette ban and stated the White House has excluded his group from the desk on points involving Black folks.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Dr. Charles Steele Jr., the president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which Martin Luther King Jr. co-founded and served as its first president, aired his considerations in regards to the Biden administration and different native and state leaders routinely ignoring his group, together with talks concerning the proposed menthol ban.
“We are not being included in the conversation in terms of the civil rights movement, so how can any group of leaders – be it mayors, Congress, or the President of the United States – talk about Black folks and poor folks?” Steele requested Fox News Digital. “How can they bring policy and a mandate to ban menthol cigarettes?”
Dr. Charles Steele Jr., the president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, fumes over the Biden administration ignoring his group, together with talks concerning the proposed menthol ban. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
The Food and Drug Administration first proposed guidelines prohibiting menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars in April 2022 to “prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers” and to “help adult smokers quit.” The Biden administration has since delayed its plans till March.
The proposed ban has introduced an avalanche of criticism, with many people and organizations arguing it may result in important penalties, similar to heightened border issues and a surge within the prison black market that might prolong to Mexican cartels and terrorist teams.
“People have choices,” Steele continued. “If you’re talking about banning anything, think about the prohibition on alcohol [in the 1920s and early 1930s]. You’ll create criminals. You’ve got an underground economic base of criminals.”
“I am against anyone who is trying to tell us what’s best for the African American or Black community, and they won’t sit down at the table and talk with us,” Steele stated.
“I feel slighted. Nobody is making any moves to include us, so we’re being taken for granted. African Americans are not going to be taken for granted anymore.”
Many teams and people have expressed considerations over President Biden’s proposed menthol cigarette ban. (Al Drago/Bloomberg by way of Getty Images)
The Biden administration’s postponement of the federal guidelines till March got here on the heels of a number of delays. The laws had been anticipated to be finalized in August, however the administration later introduced that they hoped to finish them by January. However, they famous that authorized challenges would probably gradual the ban from going into impact for a number of years.
Three officers who spoke on the situation of anonymity beforehand instructed the Washington Post the delay stemmed from stress from lobbyists and critics who cautioned that the ban may anger Black people who smoke and negatively impression Biden’s prospects in 2024.
Steele’s group has argued that particular curiosity teams just like the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which has obtained intensive funding from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have hijacked minority coverage. Bloomberg has dedicated over $1.5 billion to combating tobacco merchandise since 2005.
In addition to Steele and the SCLC, different Black leaders have voiced worries over the proposed ban. Rev. Al Sharpton stated the motion would have unintended penalties for the Black neighborhood.
Rev. Al Sharpton stated the ban can have unintended penalties for the Black neighborhood. (REUTERS/Michael A. McCoy)
“What we said is, ‘Y’all have got to consider unintended consequences.’ Imagine some cop pulling a kid over saying, ‘Where did you buy or get that Kool cigarette?'” Sharpton instructed Politico final yr.
“People are not going to stop smoking Newports and Kools because of a rule,” Sharpton stated. “They’re going to go and get them from people that go to the street in the black market. Then what happens? That’s all I’m asking.”
Groups have additionally taken goal on the Biden administration over how the proposed ban may damage small companies. The New England Convenience Store & Energy Marketers Association undertook a marketing campaign to induce candidates to oppose it, beginning with ads in New Hampshire.
Conservative advocacy teams similar to Building Americas Future adopted swimsuit with six-figure advert buys throughout a number of 2024 swing states and congressional districts.
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Meanwhile, proponents of the ban argue it may cut back tobacco use and usher in constructive well being outcomes.
“Once finalized, rules to end the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars rule will be the most significant actions that the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products has taken in its 14-year history,” American Lung Association CEO and President Harold Wimmer beforehand stated. “The American Lung Association is eager for these lifesaving rules to be implemented and urges the White House to finalize these rules before the end of the year.”
The White House didn’t reply to Fox News Digital’s request for remark.
Fox News Digital’s Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.
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