Essay 943

Blowing smoke and talking trash in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• A federal judge declared that Big Tobacco has been lying to the public for years about the negative effects of smoking. The ruling proclaimed, “Over the course of more than 50 years, defendants lied, misrepresented and deceived the American public, including smokers and the young people they avidly sought as ‘replacement smokers,’ about the devastating health effects of smoking and environmental tobacco smoke (secondhand smoke).” The judge ordered cigarette makers to publish “corrective statements” online and in newspapers about the true hazards of smoking. Plus, the companies were ordered to stop labeling products with words like low tar, light or mild, as these terms imply a cigarette may be safer. Talk about extending the Truth campaign.

• Civil rights icon and former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young is quitting his leadership role in a Wal-Mart advocacy group after making racial remarks about Jews, Asians and Arabs. While going off on a rant about mom-and-pop stores, Young said, “But you see those are the people who have been overcharging us — selling us stale bread, and bad meat and wilted vegetables. And they sold out and moved to Florida. I think they’ve ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it’s Arabs, very few Black people own these stores.” Young later explained, “I guess I was sort of being confronted and challenged for supporting the big monster Wal-Mart, as they call it. … I was attempting to say that these large shops have been good for my community, and in this meeting I said it too quick. And instead of giving a long explanation, it was a racist shorthand, which was wrong.” Next time, just talk about Wal-Mart’s low prices.