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Alcohol! Tastes great, I love it, you love it, we all love it. Kills motherfuckers every single day. Some of you all won't even make it home tonight 'cause of alcohol. You'll be like, 'Oh, that Chris Rock sure is funny, oh! Shit!' But it's all right 'cause it's all white. Cigarettes! Cigarette's the most dangerous product known to man. Kills motherfuckers every single day. Cigarette's so dangerous it kills motherfuckers that don't smoke. That's how dangerous cigarettes are. That's right, first hand smoke, second hand smoke. People talking out of their necks into a fucking machine like, 'Hey, what's up, man, I love cigarettes, this shit is cool.' But it's all right 'cause it's all white. Shit, could you imagine if the Phillip Morris family was a bunch of jheri-curled niggers from Mississippi? Do you know how illegal a pack of cigarettes would be? You would get sixty years just for a pack of Newports. But it's all right 'cause it's all white.

Chris Rock#80

RaceInequalityPolicyDrugsRegulation

About this quote

What does it mean?
The quote argues that white consumers of dangerous products shield them from strict regulation.
In plain terms
Alcohol and cigarettes are dangerous but legal because wealthy white people use them.
What can you take from it?
Race and class influence drug regulation.

Where it applies

  • drug policy debates
  • health discussions
  • social justice

Putting it to work

  • analyze policy bias
  • critique drug laws

Questions to consider

  • Why are some drugs legal?
  • How does race affect policy?

Another view

The argument simplifies complex regulatory histories.

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