The Biden administration appears to have found itself in what I find to be a hilarious Catch 22 situation thanks to Critical Race Theorists and the fact that everything has to be racist now. Even actions that are supposedly taken to benefit people of color.
The Biden administration has been floating the idea of banning menthol cigarettes, citing advocacy of African American groups who say that their communities are disproportionately affected by the tobacco product.
According to the Washington Post:
The Biden administration is expected to announce this week that it will propose a ban on menthol cigarettes, an action urgently sought by tobacco opponents and civil rights groups that say African Americans have been disproportionately hurt by the industry's aggressive targeting of Black communities.
The Biden ban on these products is endorsed by civil rights organizations because they believe that, as a racist society, black people are targeted and harmed by menthol cigarettes.
So, Sleepy Joe has a no-brainer, right? Ban menthol cigarettes in order to fight systemic racism. Easy as pie, no-lose situation. Unless you're worried about unconstitutionally banning a product, which Biden of course isn't. Easy choice, ban menthol and end racism!
Well, not exactly. The ACLU has stepped in to proclaim that ACTUALLY the proposed Biden ban would itself be, you guessed it, RACIST!
The ACLU wrote a letter to HHS Secrtetary Xavier Becerra as well as the FDA denouncing the proposed ban on the smoking product.
That's right, the REAL racism isn't from tobacco companies but from the police! Banning menthol cigarettes, according to the ACLU, will cause "racial justice" issues because black people will be targeted by law enforcement in order to effect the ban. According to the ACLU this law will lead to "other negative interactions with local law enforcement."
You see, the police are racist, obviously, and creating a new law will mean more people of color will be targeted by police.
Here's the full letter:
The letter, for no discernible reason, references the Daunte Wright and Ma'khia Bryant shootings, before referencing other at least somewhat relevant examples.
The Eric Garner case resulted from him illegally selling loose cigarettes, Michael Brown stole a box of cigarillos, and George Floyd allegedly used counterfeit money to buy cigarettes. Therefore, this law banning menthol cigarettes is racist.
I guess if you buy into the BLM narrative and CRT messaging this makes sense.
Anyways, now you've got a real Critical Race Theory battle royale on your hands here. First, you have the theory that because of systems of racism, black people are less healthy and more likely to develop disease because they are targeted by tobacco companies. So in order to end racism you have to end the legal sale of menthol cigarettes.
Then you have the other CRT folks saying that laws that are designed to help combat black health issues disproportionately target black people and force them to have more interactions with racist law enforcement.
Joe Biden now has to choose which group of woke folks he wants to make mad.
However, from this vantage point, it is hilarious to watch the radical left eat its own and argue over who is the most woke. Either way you look at it, Joe Biden is obviously racist and wants to uphold systems of white supremacy.
When it comes to pleasing the radical left and woke CRT folks you just can't win.
