Philadelphia's Soda Tax IS Racist

From The Philadelphia Inquirer:

It’s “duplicitous,” said Philly Democratic Sen. Tony Williams, because the people it taxes most are the people it purports to help most. At one point, discussing city demographics, Williams said, “We don’t tax lattes. Maybe we should.”...

Jeff Brown, owner of several Philly ShopRites and chairman of the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association, was blunter. “It’s a racist tax,” he said. “It falls disproportionately on people of color and assumes they can’t make wise decisions regarding their health.”...

There also was testimony that the soda tax will result in lower-income neighborhoods losing access to fresh foods as grocery stores are forced to close. Brown, for example, who also owns ShopRites in Philly suburbs, said his city stores’ profits are down 15 percent, his beverage sales are down 60 percent, and he might have to shutter stores in poorer neighborhoods. There was other testimony about sales declines and upswings in soda purchases outside the city. And Danny Grace, president of Teamsters Local 830, said 150 beverage production workers and drivers have been laid off since the tax took effect.