WASHINGTON – William Lamar, the senior pastor at D.C.’s historic Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, is tired of presiding over funerals for parishioners who died of heart disease, diabetes and stroke.
So on Thursday, he and another prominent African-American pastor filed suit against Coca-Cola and the American Beverage Association, claiming soda manufacturers knowingly deceived customers about the health risks of sugar-sweetened beverages — at enormous cost to their communities.
The complaint, filed in D.C. Superior Court on behalf of the pastors and the Praxis project, a public health group, alleges that Coke and the ABA ran an intentional campaign to confuse consumers about the causes of obesity....
Obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and lower-extremity amputations are all far higher among people of color than among whites. These communities also drink more soda and are exposed to more soda advertising.Now, when I drive through black ghettos (which I seldom do now), I see lots of billboards promoting alcohol, but I don't see a lot of soft drink billboards. What other geographic or race-specific soda advertising is there?
And the bigger question: Why are blacks so easy to manipulate? And does this "stupid, easy-to-manipulate" view that these black pastors have of their community say anything about their voting preferences and church attendance?
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