slimvictor
Bluelight Crew
New York City's ban on large-size sodas and other sugary drinks is being challenged by African American and Hispanic groups. How did cola become a civil rights issue?
When Martin Luther King told crowds of idealistic demonstrators he had a dream, it's unlikely that the right to sell soft beverages greater than 16oz (0.5 litre) was part of his vision.
But his heirs in the US minority civil rights movement have taken up opposition to a ban on supersize sodas as their latest crusade.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has called for the ban as a way to reduce obesity and its related health problems.
But it is being challenged in court by a coalition of bodies including the New York State wing of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), best known for its battles against segregation and discrimination.
Also supporting the action is the Hispanic Federation, a network of 100 Latino organisations.
Both groups say the ban will disproportionately affect soda sales in bodegas, or independent convenience stores, which tend to be owned and run by minorities.
Supermarkets and many convenience store chains such as 7-Eleven - home of a supersize beverage known as the Big Gulp - are not subject to city health regulations.
Hazel N Dukes, president of the NAACP New York State Conference, said the movement's stand was about "basic economic fairness".
"As the new rules stand, small mom and pop stores in the city, which are disproportionately owned and operated by people of colour, must comply with the law and suffer the financial consequences," she said.
"Meanwhile, national chains like 7-Eleven, which can handle the financial loss, are exempt. You can't be serious about banning big sodas when you have a loophole for Big Gulps."
cont at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21201680
When Martin Luther King told crowds of idealistic demonstrators he had a dream, it's unlikely that the right to sell soft beverages greater than 16oz (0.5 litre) was part of his vision.
But his heirs in the US minority civil rights movement have taken up opposition to a ban on supersize sodas as their latest crusade.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has called for the ban as a way to reduce obesity and its related health problems.
But it is being challenged in court by a coalition of bodies including the New York State wing of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), best known for its battles against segregation and discrimination.
Also supporting the action is the Hispanic Federation, a network of 100 Latino organisations.
Both groups say the ban will disproportionately affect soda sales in bodegas, or independent convenience stores, which tend to be owned and run by minorities.
Supermarkets and many convenience store chains such as 7-Eleven - home of a supersize beverage known as the Big Gulp - are not subject to city health regulations.
Hazel N Dukes, president of the NAACP New York State Conference, said the movement's stand was about "basic economic fairness".
"As the new rules stand, small mom and pop stores in the city, which are disproportionately owned and operated by people of colour, must comply with the law and suffer the financial consequences," she said.
"Meanwhile, national chains like 7-Eleven, which can handle the financial loss, are exempt. You can't be serious about banning big sodas when you have a loophole for Big Gulps."
cont at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21201680
