Tax on Solarium: Racism in Relation to the White?
Published in Gazeta Wyborcza
(Poland) on 12 July 2010
by Jacek Przybylski (link to original)
(Poland) on 12 July 2010
by Jacek Przybylski (link to original)
Translated from
by Arkadiusz Witek.
Edited by Juan Bernal.
Starting July 1st, solarium clients in the United States will have to pay a 10 percent tax, which is part of Barack Obama’s revolutionary health reform.
As the Washington Post noted, the White House, Congressmen and dermatologists argue that the new tax will generate an extra $2.7 billion for uninsured people. And at the same time, it will also discourage people from using solaria, which according to some specialists can increase the risk of developing skin cancer up to threefold. Yet, this tax is considered unconstitutional by many carrot-colored suntan enthusiasts, and this portion of white Americans believes this new tax to be racist: for the nation demands the tax from a specific ethnic group.
Now “I now know the pain of racism,” said Doc Thompson, a right-wing commentator. The president’s reform introduces a tax on sunbathing, and who sunbathes the most — dark-skinned people? I guess not. It seems to me that most of such people are fair-skinned Americans. “Why would the president of the United States of America — a man who says he understands racism, a man who has been confronted by racism — why would he sign such a racist law?” Thompson asked on air in March. The tax was called the “Caucasian tax” by a known conservative radio journalist Rush Limbaugh, who believes that if it hadn’t been for white Americans’ feeling of guilt, Barack Obama or television megastar Opra Winfrey, the tax wouldn’t have gone so high.
On the other hand, left-wing publicists do not see any problem and are convinced that the new tax will save a portion of the white population from skin cancer. In their opinion, it is better to fight for granting gays and lesbians equal rights than to lose energy for such a trivial matter.
As the Washington Post noted, the White House, Congressmen and dermatologists argue that the new tax will generate an extra $2.7 billion for uninsured people. And at the same time, it will also discourage people from using solaria, which according to some specialists can increase the risk of developing skin cancer up to threefold. Yet, this tax is considered unconstitutional by many carrot-colored suntan enthusiasts, and this portion of white Americans believes this new tax to be racist: for the nation demands the tax from a specific ethnic group.
Now “I now know the pain of racism,” said Doc Thompson, a right-wing commentator. The president’s reform introduces a tax on sunbathing, and who sunbathes the most — dark-skinned people? I guess not. It seems to me that most of such people are fair-skinned Americans. “Why would the president of the United States of America — a man who says he understands racism, a man who has been confronted by racism — why would he sign such a racist law?” Thompson asked on air in March. The tax was called the “Caucasian tax” by a known conservative radio journalist Rush Limbaugh, who believes that if it hadn’t been for white Americans’ feeling of guilt, Barack Obama or television megastar Opra Winfrey, the tax wouldn’t have gone so high.
On the other hand, left-wing publicists do not see any problem and are convinced that the new tax will save a portion of the white population from skin cancer. In their opinion, it is better to fight for granting gays and lesbians equal rights than to lose energy for such a trivial matter.
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