Kick the cancer sticks, Mr. PresidentHis latest medical examination revealed President Barack Obama is having a problem kicking the cancer sticks, just like too many other African-Americans who have found it a challenging habit to break.
As someone who quit smoking cigarettes more than four years ago after more than 30 years of being a half-pack a day smoker, perhaps I can offer some patriotic advice.
Just quit: You might miss it from time to time, but you will never regret it.
Successfully quitting smoking may be the only thing in my life I have managed to do better than Obama; I didn't write a best-selling book or attend Harvard Law School or get elected president, but I gave up the coffin nails.
The president is a few years younger than me (he turns 49 in August) but generationally we are very similar in terms of middle-age black men who turned to cigarettes in our late teens or early 20s to affect a particular social posture. Basically, we were trying to be "cool."
I'm almost certain he started out on Kools or Newports,
Ray Ban sunglassesjust like most of my black friends who smoked. White friends usually started with Marlboros. (Yes, that might be tobacco-related racial stereotyping, but in my experience it's also true.)
According to BlackHealthCare.com, smoking rates among African-American adults historically have been higher than among the general U.S. population. In recent years, smoking rates for black people have declined dramatically along with other groups due to more widespread smoking cessation efforts, although African-Americans continue to suffer disproportionately from chronic and preventable diseases compared with white Americans.
Smoking has been found to contribute to heart disease,
Ray Ban sunglassesstrokes and cancer. That's all the evidence Obama needs to get serious about presenting a positive role model for a nation of black people who look up to him more than any other current leader.
Also, it doesn't look good for someone trying to fix health care to show such disregard for his own health.
If I had to guess, I would imagine the Harvard-educated Obama is smart enough to know smoking has had a bad impact on his personal health.
canvas bagHe's a recreational basketball player, so he's probably felt himself sucking wind more and more as he grew older because of the way cigarettes were choking off his windpipe.
His wife likely has complained about his tobacco breath and the stink on his clothes. His daughters are old enough to start nagging him about smoking after they learn all about the dangers of tobacco use in their excellent private schools.
It's interesting to look back on how many of my role models smoked cigarettes in photographs, on TV or on film.
canvas bagI'm talking about popular figures like Richard Roundtree in "Shaft," black writer James Baldwin, "Rat Pack" member Sammy Davis Jr., and even Martin Luther King Jr.
I quit smoking after years of trying and failing only after finally recognizing I was often the only one in my social circle who still smoked cigarettes. It was a move I have never regretted. Of course, if I had Dick Cheney bird-dogging my every move or hordes of angry tea partiers to deal with on a daily basis,
Ray Ban sunglassesI might not have been able to quit, either.
