Mask-On
People have always covered their faces during times of civil unrest. The purpose? To conceal one’s identity. To make it harder for the establishment, oppressor or dictator to target you. Perhaps the most famous of these concealments is the Guy Fawkes mask. If you’ve seen V for Vendetta or have heard of the hacker group Anonymous, you probably know what I'm talking about.
Hong Kong protestors wearing Guy Fawkes masks in November 2019; mere months before COVID-19 would give mask-wearing a new face.
Masks are so ubiquitous with protest that some governments have tried to put anti-mask laws in place. They claim to be ‘preventing vigilantism’ and 'holding people accountable for their actions'. Makes sense, given their reputation. The easiest way to maintain power is to know your enemy - those who are acting against you.
You must know your enemy to eliminate them.
Manifestors know this all too well. That’s why anti-mask laws are struck down before they can be implemented. In November 2019 the Government of Hong Kong passed legislation to prohibit the use of masks during protests. It was made possible by the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, a clause formed by the former British colonial government which allows the city's Chief Executive to basically assume total control over the populace. Using this newfound overreach the government of Hong Kong implemented an anti-mask law called the Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation.
The PFCR was not received well. Protestors fairly judged it as an anti-democratic government ploy designed to pick out and punish protestors. According to the law, anyone wearing a mask at a public assembly could spend up to a year in jail and face a fine of up to HK $25,000. The law was approved (in a pre-COVID climate), but it drew widespread international criticism and was sent for judicial review shortly after. Since then the Chinese government has lobbied to uphold the ruling, however further hearings are on hold due to the overwhelming public health crisis the world is facing.
OK - masks have been used historically for both good and bad, in support of righteousness and bigotry. But until now, the ability to conceal one’s identity has had overwhelmingly negative consequences. Think of the thousands of Klan members who are made indistinguishable by their own corny disguises (racist white bedsheets). This is no small thing. Masks are what allows these people to act morbidly and evade the consequences.
Today we face a very different reality. Mask-wearing is - for the time being - normal. This does not mean it has been normalized (at least in Western societies) - but that may soon change. The fact that some people wear masks while alone on a hike indicates that we might be headed towards that direction. But this necessary change on American society is not all bad. In fact, we now have the opportunity to destroy mask-wearing's negative reputation.
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Right now masks are mostly seen as pieces of medical equipment. Something that's essential. But a mask's use is not limited to preventing the spread of disease. A mask can be a disguise. It can be regalia, part of vibrant cultural celebrations like Mardi Gras, Halloween, or Día de los Muertos. Masks can provide us protection, joy, privacy, secrecy - your actions determine what purpose the mask serves.
Sometimes though even a person’s actions are irrelevant to what purpose their mask serves. Some people think they’re the ones who should make that judgment. A mask’s assumed purpose changes depending on the color of your skin. Trayvon Martin wasn’t wearing a mask when he was killed - but what if he was? What difference would it have made? In all likelihood, none at all. George Zimmerman still would've hunted down and killed Trayvon Martin. The gross fact is that if Trayvon was wearing a mask and not a sweatshirt he would’ve received the same assumption. So next time you complain about your mask being uncomfortable, or hard to breathe in, consider whether or not you carry the risk of being shot for wearing one.
Black people in this country are under the constant burden that they will become the next victim. Trayvon Martin. Eric Garner. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. George Floyd. They once feared that they might be next. And then they were. It doesn’t start or stop at police brutality - black people have to weigh doing things most people take for granted. Wearing a hoodie. Going for a run. Falling in love. As a white person, I don’t have to contend with any of those problems. I can go outside, run on a trail or conceal my face without having to weigh the odds. It would be crazy to say that I understand the plight of black people in America, because I’m not black. I see the problems, but I am not a victim of them. And therefore, I do not fully understand them. All I can do is sympathize, recognize, support. Acknowledge that this has gone on for far too long, and that change needs to happen today, not later. So that’s what I’ll do.
George Floyd was robbed of a universal human right - the right to life. He was denied the liberty to breathe. Thousands before him have died of similar symptoms, albeit by a different cause. COVID-19 wreaks havoc on your respiratory system, particularly those of at-risk or unhealthy individuals. The result is, well, a lot like being choked to death. The fact that these two tragedies occured in the same year is shocking. For the first time maybe ever, masks are a necessity during protest. If the government were to deny us the right to wear a mask, they would be putting countless lives in jeopardy.
This right has been taken away elsewhere. It can happen here, too.
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We rely on masks today for our own protection. We've yet to see what other effects masks will have on us as a society. That palpable sense of mistrust that comes alongside not being able to see someone's face does exist; try trading glances with someone at the grocery store right now. Nonetheless, some good has come out of masks. Empowerment. Unity. Bringing hope to a desperate situation.
Protestors proudly support their cause.
In this rarest of moments, what was once a necessary evil now allows us to communicate a message that is greater than ourselves. Those creepy Guy Fawkes masks convey their own message. But the makeshift, unified nature of masks being worn all across America today has the power to transform what a mask is.
We must wear masks. For each other’s safety (though please note - wearing a mask does not make you invincible). For solidarity. Since COVID-19 came into our lives, many have criticized masks as a threat to our freedom. But that’s just not the case. The fact is that you don't have to listen to what anyone - the government included - tells you to do. Vice-versa, no one, the government included, can strip your right to wear a mask. The Chinese government can keep meddling in Hong Kong's fight to maintain autonomy. But they can't prevent the people from doing what they must.
Nor can our President do the same to us.
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Donald Trump’s refusal to wear a mask should be a cause for concern. It puts his supporters in an odd headspace; if he doesn't wear one, why should I? If the message wasn't clear enough, Trump himself makes fun of wearing a mask. When asked why he chose not to wear a mask during his tour of a Ford plant in Michigan, he replied that he "didn't want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it." This implies that it would be a mockery, shameful. He's even managed to drag some of his party on board with his anti-mask rhetoric. Remember when Vice President Mike Pence moronically paraded around that hospital full of COVID patients - without a mask? Apparently Pence would rather risk his own health (and that of his family) than disavow the President.
There are still lows that even Trump refuses to - or simply cannot - fall to. What he actually wants to say about masks is probably more... out there than his current stance. Because publicly disavowing mask-wearers would hurt him politically, he instead sends his muppets to do it for him. Medal of Freedom recipient (repeat that to yourself before reading on) Rush Limbaugh calls masks a "required symbol on the left to promote fear, to promote indecision, to promote the notion that we're nowhere near out of this." Eloquently put, Sir Limbaugh. That's more than can be said of owner-of-world's-most-underwhelming-beard/trust-fund-baby Donald Trump Jr.'s rhetoric on mask wearing. Behold:
The fact that this exists demonstrates the power of last names and of stimulant drugs (Note: not yet confirmed. Please don’t sue.) Regardless, the President's loving son clearly states what the President wishes he could say personally; wearing masks is for fools, and apparently for dogs as well.
Sooner or later the President will have to face his phobia of masks. When he does, he will either cede or claim victory. The former would be much simpler than the latter. But our President happens to be an egomaniac. So the latter is much more likely. And the only way to claim total victory is to denounce people who wear masks; to pass anti-mask legislation.
This result is not out of the question. The President fears those-who-wear-masks, particularly those worn by members of this newly-energized movement for change. The President understands that those 'punks' are out to get him. That those whom he has fought tooth-and-nail to suppress are tired of being treated as second-class citizens. The President knows this. He knows, like all tyrants know, that the only way to expose his enemies is to unmask them.
We still have the power to choose our masks. To choose the right one - the one that puts a stop to police brutality. The one that prevents a virus from spreading. The one that denounces racism. The one that will remove Donald Trump from office this November.
No one, not even the President, can strip your right to wear a mask. And if they try, know that it is out of hate, out of indifference to our future.
Then again, people hate only what they fear.
So be feared.
Here are a few places you can donate to help ensure a brighter future for black lives in America:
Black Visions Collective: https://www.blackvisionsmn.org/about
NAACP Legal Defense Fund: https://www.naacpldf.org/?_ga=2.266874954.595467896.1591148006-1235451836.1591148006
sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/world/asia/hong-kong-mask-ban-protests-election.html
https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap241K
https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/12/10/21/19432543/3/rawImage.jpg
https://mashable.com/article/george-floyd-protests-face-masks-i-cant-breathe/
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/21/politics/donald-trump-michigan-masks/index.html
