WE ARE TAKING them down. In the foreseeable future, alcohol and tobacco billboards
will be just a bad memory, a sad reminder of the alcohol and tobacco industries'
predatory marketing practices.
When I say "we," I mean the predominantly African American and Latino communities
where the tobacco and alcohol industries use billboards to push their drugs.
The industries would not dare install in suburban areas the ads with which they paper
the inner cities, because they know it would not be tolerated. The underlying racist
assumption that this is somehow all right is an insult to the integrity of our communities
and the fabric of our nation.
The ads tell a cruel lie. They tout alcohol and tobacco as sources of happiness,
good sex, success and power.
Their imagery includes scantily clad women, musicians, tigers and other fierce creatures,
genial frogs and penguins.
Yet the truth is that alcohol and tobacco cause untold suffering, death and despair,
particularly among our young people, and rob our communities of their strength and
vitality.
We cannot turn off billboards, cannot turn the page. They tower over our homes, playgrounds,
schools and businesses. They blight our neighborhoods.
One study in a Latino community found that children had to pass by as many as 60
alcohol advertisements on their way to school every day. What kind of message is
this to our young people, who already face such formidable barriers as they come
of age: racism, sexism, economic oppression, violence, poor schools and job shortages?
According to the alcohol and tobacco industries, the best promise we can offer them
is the temporary quick fix of addictive drugs.
The big alcohol and tobacco companies use their tremendous political and economic
muscle to convince politicians to leave their marketing practices alone. When that
doesn't work, they hire teams of attorneys to find every potential loophole in the
law.
Perhaps most brazen is their claim of First Amendment protection. When it comes to
billboards, the courts have soundly rejected the industries' arguments.
The news that cities across the country are taking action is indeed heartening. First
Baltimore, then Chicago, started the ball rolling. San Francisco, Oakland, Cleveland,
Los Angeles and New York, to name just a few, are not far behind.
We should celebrate the grass-roots leaders who have worked with such determination
and energy to reclaim inner-city horizons. Clearly, the fight is not over. There
are more legal loopholes, lawsuits and back-room deals to contend with.
When we the people come together, our power is awesome. In our confrontation with
the alcohol and tobacco industries, they represent darkness and we represent the
light.
To know how much power we have over darkness, go into a dark room and turn the light
on. Darkness vanishes. Darkness never wins over the light.