The Potential Impact of the Tobacco Settlement Agreement On the African American Community

Prepared by Charyn D. Sutton, The Onyx Group
November 1998

The 1998 multi-state Tobacco Settlement Agreement, like the 1997 Settlement Agreement, contains provisions that impact the lives of Black people in the United States. The Onyx Group prepared a document in July 1997 that provided a review and assessment of the provisions of the original Settlement Agreement by the Attorneys General of the majority of states. This document provides a similar review of the 1998 Settlement Agreement, including an assessment of some of the key health, social, cultural and economic issues specific to African Americans and other persons of African descent living in the United States.

The format of this document is similar to that of the previous assessment. In Section II, there are statements that summarize one or more provisions of the 1998 multi-state Tobacco Settlement Agreement in bold type, followed by discussion of the potential impact of that provision in regular type. In some instances, the discussion contains references to the status of an issue with respect to the 1997 Settlement Agreement. The document next identifies key issues that are not addressed in the newest Settlement Agreement and gives some suggested next steps.

The analysis is provided by The Onyx Group as a means of assisting African American organizations and others to identify relevant issues in tobacco prevention and control. It is not meant to represent all opinions within the Black community on this complex issue.