Skip to main content

A Mask That Reveals


When the national conversation began to turn to the advisability of wearing masks in public in order to halt the spread of the Covid-19 virus, it wasn’t greeted with enthusiasm by everyone. 
Black men fear homemade coronavirus masks could exacerbate racial profiling    - - NBC News
For Black Men, Fear That Masks Will Invite Racial Profiling  - - New York Times 

 Yesterday Governor Hogan announced that he is ordering masks to be worn in public places such as retail stores and public transit, along with other requirements to support social distancing and heightened sanitary practices in places of business. From eveything that we know about spread of the virus, this is a sound decision.

 From everything we know about institutionalized racism in this country, it will also have unintended consequences.

On April 4th, at the LA Mart in Oakland Mills, a Muslim man was (allegedly) tasered and restrained by a security guard because he would not remove his face mask in the store. According to the story the man in question is a health care worker who comes in contact with Covid-19 patients. 


What possible reason could the security guard have had to require someone to remove a mask as a requirement for shopping in the store? Is it even remotely likely that someone would be hiding a weapon under a face mask? 

Or is it more likely that the guard thought that this man “looked suspicious” and wanted his face to be recorded by store cameras as he shopped? It seems highly unlikely that he wanted a customer to remove a mask in order to provide him with a more enthusiastic welcome. I certainly hope that the Howard County police investigate this incident and that they share the results with the public.

Some time ago, the LA Mart had already created a feeling of unease in the Oakland Mills Community by posting “no hoodie” signs at the door. It may be that ownership and management need some serious intervention on how to support safety in their establishment without compromising the civil rights of their patrons.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...
Post a Comment
Read more