Americans celebrate Juneteenth for George Floyd and MLK Day for MLK. But what about the black hero who died tragically fighting the anti-tobacco lobby?
On July 17, 2014, NYPD officers killed Eric Garner while enforcing draconian cigarette laws that banned the sale of loosies, cigarettes that are sold individually. Mr. Garner was allegedly selling loosies at the time of his death.
Nearly a decade has passed since Mr. Garner’s daring act of civil disobedience, but now white savior zealots in the Biden administration are weighing a ban on menthol cigarettes that will do irreparable harm to the black community and lead to more lethal encounters between cops and gentlemen such as Mr. Garner, according to research from the Center for African-American Tobacco Studies (CAATS). (RELATED: Forget Carjackings: The Chocolate City Needs To Rise Up Against The Menthol Ban)
In a much-discussed and widely disseminated column, Scoops outlined how Washington, D.C.’s menthol ban directly contributes to the violent crime spree ravaging the nation’s capital, which in turn leads to more cop-citizen encounters.
Noted CAATS scholar Michael Goldberg told Scoops that the ban has been “a complete disaster” for the black community, and has inadvertently exposed a sinister, racist, “shocking thirst for power and control” all too common among government bureaucrats and white liberal activists.
Even Mr. Garner’s mother, Gwenn Carr, has urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to oppose the Biden FDA’s proposed crackdown, arguing the ban would make “systemic inequities worse” for black Americans.
“We have seen the dangerous interactions that can occur when the sale of loose cigarettes is criminalized, as was tragically the case with my son, Eric. I am afraid that well-intentioned policies, without thorough and inclusive study, may ultimately serve to make systemic inequities worse,” Carr said.
“A ban could potentially trigger an increase in policing of Black and Hispanic communities for non-violent offenses, undermine the efforts to build trust between law enforcement and communities of color, and contribute to a cycle of incarceration that we have worked hard to break,” she continued.
So where does Mr. Garner fit into the picture in 2024?
The answer is obvious: freedom-loving Americans need to celebrate Mr. Garner as they would MLK, George Floyd, or Frederick Douglass for that matter.
To be sure, Mr. Garner’s place in this country’s long, fraught history has nothing to do with his race. Frankly, to make it solely about his race would do his memory a grave disservice.
It is rather Mr. Garner’s pluckiness, his entrepreneurial spirit, and his fierce defense of the American’s inalienable right to smoke a dart wherever and whenever he pleases, that solidifies a glorious legacy in the annals of our nation’s story. He is a symbol of anti-anti-menthol resistance that must persist if America is to remain the free, democratic leader of the Western World. (RELATED: One Hero Fired Up An Airplane Dart, Taking A Huge Stand For Every American)
So, dear reader, let us petition our government, as is our right, to name July 17 Eric Garner Day — the day a free citizen, staring despotism directly in the eye, said no to tyranny, and yes to freedom.