Unmasking the White Privilege of the Mask Debate
Until a week ago, I had no idea that I had any anti-maskers in my life. Suddenly, there they were, furious about their rights being violated and congratulating one another for not being sheep. This is all about government control, they warned, posting photos of Hitler to forecast what’s to come if we heed the World Health Organization’s advice to wear masks.
I consider myself pretty open minded, especially when it comes to health. Among my friends I would surely be voted most likely to eat a spirulina goji berry superfood salad. I also spent a few years working in civic education, helping youth learn to deliberate controversial issues in a way that teaches respect, even when you are vehemently opposed to the ideas the other person is saying. It’s a skillset that is not taught in U.S. schools (not since civics was “defunded”) and, as a result, many debates tend to shed more heat than light.
But as I listened to the perspectives of the anti-maskers, the pattern began to appear as plain as the mask on my face. Every one of the anti-maskers I’ve met is white, and everything they are arguing is fraught with white supremacy. The right to comfort. Individualism. And power hoarding. (2001, Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun)
The great mask debate, like every other aspect of this pandemic, is shining a light on racism.
We are living through an incredible moment in history. A double pandemic, in which we have watched the disproportionate impacts of COVID on marginalized populations — Black, indigenous and people of color, women, low-income workers, immigrants — coupled with the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Elijah McClain, to name just a few of the most recent in a long history of racial injustice and institutionalized violence. We have been sitting on a powder keg these last few months, and now our nation has exploded.
It’s a moment that has shaken many people. If you are white like me, you may be reexamining your own role in racism. You may be looking for ways to create change, to educate yourself about the history you weren’t taught, to speak out, to support BIPOC businesses and nonprofits, to be an ally.
If you are truly committed to being an ally, then one way you can support Black lives is by wearing a mask.
Unmasking the “Masks Are Harmful” Myth: The Right to Comfort
Among the things I learned about the anti-masker perspective is that the science behind wearing masks cannot be trusted and is being influenced by the government. (See Hitler references.) In sum, masks are actually harmful and we are being lied to about the deleterious health effects of breathing in CO2, and the evidence that they are unnecessary is that the human species has survived other pandemics just fine, so why not trust our immune systems to handle COVID, too.
Let’s break this down.
First, the theory that face masks actually make people more sick by poisoning wearers with carbon dioxide cannot possibly be true or doctors would die every day. The theory that the science supporting masks is bogus and besides, we have survived other pandemics does not make sense, because isn’t science what has allowed us to live longer through vaccines and other medical innovations?
If you believe that health experts cannot be trusted because they are under the thumb of the government, fine — then why not trust the advice of indigenous leaders, a population that our government has historically shown little evidence of trying to keep alive? Native communities have long received worse care during pandemics and witnessed higher mortality rates than the rest of the population, and yet their response strategies all over the world are to wear a mask and socially distance, from the National Indian Health Board to the interiors of Borneo where communities are avoiding traditional longhouses, to Australia where aboriginal communities are camping out in the bush to protect elders.
All of these arguments come down to anti-maskers feeling they should not have to feel discomfort. To be white in the U.S. is to live in a reality where your comfort is constantly reinforced as paramount. If something causes you discomfort, you simply ask for the manager. Much of the outrage I am hearing when anti-maskers say, “You are violating my rights” translates to me as a violation of the right to comfort. To be told to wear a mask is less about the discomfort of covering your face than it is about the discomfort of being equal, rather than above, others.
Unmasking the “COVID is a Government Hoax” Myth: Power Hoarding
My work has taken me all over the world (well, it used to…) and because I have family in different countries, I have had the advantage of seeing firsthand how different governments have responded to the pandemic. What I’m seeing is that whether in tiny island nations or large countries, the places with the lowest rates of COVID infections have one thing in common: people wear masks and socially distance. How can it be that all the health experts and healers in the world could all be wrong about wearing masks? Are they all part of a conspiracy?
Look, I love a good conspiracy theory. I watched every season the The X-Files. But as someone who has worked on projects with a number of governments over the years, I have to tell you that most governments could not organize something like this if they tried. (Sorry government agencies, I know you are working your tails off trying to keep your healthcare systems from collapsing, I say this with love.) Are all the governments in the world plotting together to control of all the people in the world? They can’t even agree at the UN. They have literally been arguing for 40+ years that women deserve equal rights under CEDAW, so I just cannot imagine how this could be possible.
To be white in the U.S. means seeing every day in the institutions and images around you that you have power. It means that people who look like you occupy seats of power and authority. To be told that you do not have the power to refuse to wear a mask — that you must look like everyone else wearing a mask — seems to translate to anti-maskers as being forced to give up power. And how could a government that has always protected its white citizens do this? The answer must be that this is a conspiracy of some kind.
Unmasking the “Herd Immunity” Myth: Individualism
One of the most harmful arguments I have heard from anti-maskers is that we should wait for herd immunity to take care of COVID. If you aren’t familiar with herd immunity, it means that enough people will become infected (or, someday, receive a vaccine) that fewer people will get sick. Measles, polio, and chickenpox are now rare because vaccines helped to establish herd immunity. However, the death rate for COVID is 10 times higher than the flu. And for herd immunity to work, 70–80% of the world’s population would need to become infected. (One anti-masker told me he didn’t think this would be so bad. Wow.)
We have already seen the disproportionate impacts of COVID on marginalized communities, so it stands to reason that the people most likely to die from COVID will not be wealthy white people with private health care. Suggesting that we wait for herd immunity is another way of saying we are fine with sacrificing the weak. And to say that can only mean that you believe that you are at the top of the proverbial herd. To be clear, not wearing a mask is not a way of proving that you’re willing to sacrifice your own life. It’s a way of proving that you’re willing to sacrifice someone else’s life.
The trait of individualism is often celebrated in the U.S. as “expressing one’s freedom.” As a society, however, our lives are intertwined. Wearing a face mask during a pandemic signifies that you recognize that you are part of a larger community, and that you care about other people’s health and well-being enough to sacrifice your individual comfort for the greater good. But many anti-maskers believe that being forced to wear a mask challenges their individualism, because it’s everyone for themselves. To protest wearing a mask is ultimately about “expressing one’s freedom” to spread a deadly virus and kill off the most vulnerable populations in our societal herd. Which means, it isn’t about freedom from oppression — it’s the freedom to oppress. (Danielle Moodie, Telling Us to ‘Tip Our Mask’ Is Racist)
So I’ll say it again: If you are truly committed to being an ally, then you can save Black lives by wearing a mask.
Ten Black-Owned Shops to Buy Face Masks:
2. Diop
3. Draped
4. Island Tribe
5. Romeo Hunte
6. Saint Ola
7. Taylor Jay
9. Waly Access
10. Undra Celesteny
