CW: Antisemitism, Racism, Eugenics, Ableism & Death
New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently said that she was considering outlawing face masks on New York subways. She discussed fears about people covering their faces while committing antisemitic crimes. Hochul also highlighted an incident in which masked demonstrators on a train yelled, “Raise your hands if you’re a Zionist.” This is your chance to get out.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is considering a similar ban. Last Sunday, there were fights over masks outside a synagogue. Bass, a Democrat, said at a press conference with local Jewish leaders on Monday that she would be seeking “several points of clarity” from the city attorney “around what are the parameters with protests: when permits are needed, whether or not people should be masked, and establishing clear lines of demarcation between what is legal and what is not”.
Professor Katherine Macfarlane who is an Associate Professor of Law at Syracuse University said that these bans could be detrimental for disabled people. “The bans would pose an immediate risk to people with disabilities who need to wear masks to protect themselves—from airborne illnesses like COVID-19, for example. It is difficult to imagine how a disabled person would be able to convincingly defend their mask-wearing to a police officer,” said Macfarlane. “Even if an exception to the bans were created for people with disabilities, the bans would still force people to disclose a disability they would rather keep confidential. And if an officer doesn’t believe them (as so often happens to people with invisible disabilities), what happens—they’re arrested?” Macfarlane continued.
Republican lawmakers in North Carolina are preparing to overturn Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s recent veto of legislation to outlaw masking. Student protesters in Ohio, Texas, and Florida have been threatened with arrest for covering their faces.
Last month, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost wrote a letter to the state’s 14 public universities informing them that protestors could face felony charges under the state’s rarely used anti-mask law. Breaking the law carries penalties ranging from six to 18 months in prison.
According to the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, at least 18 states and the District of Columbia have anti-masking laws. Some of which are decades-old. They were often enacted in response to the Ku Klux Klan’s actions.
The modern day Ku Klux Kan was founded in 1915, motivated by nostalgia for the Old South and dread of the development of communism in Russia, as well as the changing ethnic makeup of American society. This version of the KKK targeted Blacks, Catholics, Jews, foreigners, and labor unions. Its membership peaked in the 1920s at nearly four million, but it progressively decreased during the Great Depression.
During the civil rights movement, in the 1960s, the KKK resumed its activities, targeting blacks, and white civil rights activists with bombs, whippings, and shootings. By the end of the twentieth century, greater racial tolerance had decreased the organization’s membership to a few thousand.
During the coronavirus pandemic, lawmakers in certain areas approved legislation to create health exemptions, while other authorities promised not to enforce the laws. Lawmakers who want to revive pre-pandemic mask regulations say the proposal would not target medically fragile individuals or those attempting to avoid respiratory diseases. However, critics argue that this is not feasible. Critics also say that this strategy sets mask wearers up for more ostracization and harassment from police and fellow residents.
Taking precautions can be critical if you are disabled or immunocompromised. A study conducted before vaccines were available found that people with developmental disabilities were 3.06 times more likely to die from COVID-19. In contrast, people with intellectual disabilities were 2.75 times more likely to die, and people with spina bifida and other nervous system conditions were 2.48 times more likely to die.
COVID-19 was also the top cause of death among people with intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome in 2020. The study was done by Scott Landes, Ph.D. a professor of sociology at Syracuse University. In another study, Down syndrome and chronic renal disease were associated with a COVID-19 diagnosis. Heart disease was associated with COVID-19 deaths.
Additionally, a report released in October 2021 by the National Council on Disability, found that a third of COVID-19 deaths between the beginning of the pandemic in the United States and March 2021 happened in facilities for the elderly and disabled. On top of that, these individuals were sometimes triaged out of COVID-19 treatments when hospital beds, supplies, and staff were in short supply.
Sarah McSweeney, who died in 2020, had cerebral palsy. The doctors were puzzled by a document that the staff at McSweeney’s group home brought with them. It was a legal document outlining the medical care that McSweeney, who couldn’t speak for herself, desired.
The staff didn’t understand why it wasn’t a DNR. A do-not-resuscitate order is a legal document issued by a physician stating that you do not wish to be resuscitated in the event of an emergency. Because of her disabilities, the staff felt that she was less valuable.
For disabled people and those with chronic illnesses, the COVID-19 pandemic has been incredibly difficult to deal with. If people in your life seem anxious, please be patient with them. For many people catching COVID-19 could be life-threatening, and mask bans will put more lives at risk.
Sources:
Beckett, Lois. “Despite Covid Surge, Los Angeles Mayor Considers Mask Ban at Protests.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 25 June 2024, amp.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/25/los-angeles-mask-ban-covid.
Garcia, Eric. “Biden Is Wrong. the Pandemic Isn’t over for Disabled Americans.” MSNBC, NBCUniversal News Group, 23 Sept. 2022, https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/biden-wrong-pandemic-isn-t-over-disabled-americans-n1299051.
“Ku Klux Klan.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 20 June 2024, http://www.britannica.com/topic/Ku-Klux-Klan.
Landes, Scott D., et al. ‘COVID-19 Mortality Burden and Comorbidity Patterns among Decedents with and without Intellectual and Developmental Disability in the US’. Disability and Health Journal, vol. 15, no. 4, Oct. 2022, p. 101376, https://doi.org10.1016/j.dhjo.2022.101376.
Landes, Scott D et al. “Risk Factors Associated With COVID-19 Outcomes Among People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Receiving Residential Services.” JAMA network openvol. 4,6 e2112862. 1 Jun. 2021, doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.12862
Mbuqe, Ellen. “Mask Bans Are a Heavy Burden for People with Disabilities.” SU News, Syracuse University , 26 June 2024, news.syr.edu/blog/2024/06/26/mask-bans-are-a-heavy-burden-for-people-with-disabilities/.
Nirappil, Fenit. “Mask Bans Proposed in North Carolina and New York Raise Covid Concerns .” The Washington Post, WP Company, 24 June 2024, http://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/06/24/mask-ban-north-carolina-new-york/.
Stanley, Jay. “States Dust off Obscure Anti-Mask Laws to Target Pro-Palestine Protesters: ACLU.” American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union, 16 May 2024, http://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/states-dust-off-obscure-anti-mask-laws-to-target-pro-palestine-protesters.
Shapiro, Joseph. “As Hospitals Fear Being Overwhelmed By COVID-19, Do The Disabled Get The Same Access? .” NPR, NPR, 14 Dec. 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/12/14/945056176/as-hospitals-fear-being-overwhelmed-by-covid-19-do-the-disabled-get-the-same-acc.