‘Same Game Different Smokers’ exhibition explores troubled history between the tobacco industry and black America, shines light on menthol
In recent years, there’s been a strong push by health advocates, civil rights groups, elected officials, and residents, including thousands from Wisconsin, urging federal officials to finalize the proposed rule by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to remove menthol cigarettes from the market.
The recent announcement that President Joe Biden’s Administration is postponing the long-awaited menthol ban, while a disappointment, will not impede the work of those working to reverse the damage caused by the decades- long and ongoing targeting of the black community with menthol tobacco.
“Today’s news from the Biden Administration is a blow to the black community, who continue to be unfairly targeted and unjustly killed by Big Tobacco,” wrote Derrick Johnson, NAACP President and CEO in a statement.
“The NAACP is outraged and disgusted, but we refuse to be deterred. We will continue to do whatever it takes to protect and advance black life. This is what standing for community looks like.”
In truth, the tobacco industry’s troubled relationship with black America is much deeper than menthol. It began hundreds of years ago. It’s the same game, just different smokers. And it’s here in Milwaukee.
Curated by California artist and activist Tracy Brown, Same Game, Different Smokers is a national exhibition that explores the troubled 400+ year relationship between black America and tobacco. The free exhibit is being featured at Milwaukee’s Washington Park Branch Library, 2121 N. Sherman Blvd., through June 29, 2024.
“We hope that the community comes out to experience this free exhibit and learn about how the tobacco industry has devastated African American communities, and how the industry is using those same time-tested tactics to generate a new generation of tobacco users,” said Lorraine Lathen, director of the Wisconsin African American Tobacco Prevention Network (WAATPN) and Wisconsin Tobacco Prevention & Poverty Network (WTTPN).
The WAATPN and WTPPN brought the exhibit to Milwaukee with the support of Milwaukee Public Libraries, the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council and Wisconsin Tobacco Prevention and Control Program.
Exhibit curator Tracy Brown, said the exhibit takes visitors on a trip through the history of tobacco and black America, exploring topics such as tobacco’s intimate link to slavery. The slave trade brought tobacco to North American colonies, mainly Virginia, to supply the English market. Slaves in North America cultivated tobacco, the product that enslaved them.
Tragically, the multi-billion tobacco industry of today has been built on the backs of slaves and their lineage. This success has been achieved to the detriment of black health and through the egregious behaviors that are so deeply entrenched in the tobacco industry’s DNA.
“Throughout history, black America has been victimized by tobacco,” said Carol McGruder, co-founder of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC),which sponsored the Same Game Different Smokers exhibition. “Although tactics have changed, we’re still targets of the tobacco industry.”
McGruder’s group, the AATCLC, recently filed a second lawsuit against the FDA for its failure to take action on menthol.
Wisconsin State Representative LaKeshia Myers, recently discussed issues related to tobacco industry menthol targeting in an op-ed.
“The tobacco industry has strategically targeted African American communities with menthol cigarettes through advertising techniques and product customization. This includes placing more advertisements in predominantly black neighborhoods and sponsoring events popular among black audiences (who remembers the Kool Jazz Festival?),” Myers wrote.
Visitors can learn more about the history between black America and tobacco and its evolution to current day by visiting the Washington Park Branch Library during any of its regular hours of operation to experience Same Game Different Smokers. To learn more visit SameGameWi.com.
