You’re not wrong about his perceptions. Not only does he not know much about race relations, but he obviously wasn’t reading the thread very carefully, either.
But I honestly, I think his ignorance gets to the heart of how such a ban would be perceived by a large number of people: as a racist act. It is a “for your own good” type of legislation, and it would disproportionately affect black people—so it will likely be seen as paternalism (or worse) rather than an attempt to reduce smoking in everyone.
Plus, while most people were not making the argument that UV decried: I did notice at least one poster making such an argument: our beloved “doctor” and Pit target DrDeth. I wouldn’t mind letting the two of them go at it, myself.