My white privilege is showing. It hadn’t occurred to me that black men would be taking risks by following the CDC encouragement to wear face masks in circumstances, such as grocery shopping, where close proximity to others might be unavoidable.
A recent report of a police officer following young black men who wore masks while shopping [at an Illinois Walmart] has amplified fears among people of color of being profiled as criminals or gang members. Civil rights leaders, politicians and community activists worry that concerns of racial bias will discourage black people from wearing masks to protect themselves and others, further increasing their exposure to a virus that is disproportionately infecting and killing African Americans.
The article includes remarks by Cory Anderson of Little Rock, and his photo wearing a mask.
In Little Rock, Ark., the Rev. Cory Anderson, chief innovation officer for the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, wore a mask made by his wife’s colleague on a recent run to Walgreens. The black mask was adorned with white lettering saying, “Prince of Peace,” “Lamb of God” and “King of Kings,” but that nod to Jesus offered little comfort for the Baptist preacher.
“At one point I looked in my car mirror and I had the mask on, which was black, and a hoodie on, which was black, and I thought, ‘Okay, this is not necessarily a good look,’” said Anderson, 50. He decided to remove his hood, he said, “because it felt like it was too much, from a visual standpoint.”
“My unease at getting out and walking around in public like that is really a symptom of a bigger issue that our country has with criminalizing people of color,” Anderson said.
He worries that as local communities tighten their coronavirus lockdowns, low-income black neighborhoods will come into increased contact with law enforcement, with tragic consequences.
But those results are not inevitable, he said, if police and community leaders are more intentional about reaching out to black and brown communities to support them rather than punish them. “There should be people reassuring us that it’s okay to go out with a mask on,” Anderson said. “Black and brown people shouldn’t be afraid to wear masks, and they should have access to them.”