With NC State requiring students and faculty to wear masks in the coming fall semester, the last problem we need is for people to continue making face mask requirements a political issue. More Democrats have been reportedly wearing face masks compared to Republicans, making them a divisive topic and merely a political statement to wear.
Many Republicans are arguing that masks are a threat to their individual freedom as Americans. For example, ReopenNC, a group that has protested for North Carolina to end the shutdown, referred to masks as human “muzzles.” The group also started a social media challenge titled the “burn your mask challenge” in which people post videos of them burning their masks. This not only disrespects health care workers who need masks but also shows a lack of care for others’ health.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and countless health officials have vocalized that face masks are simply a tool that will help reduce the spread of the coronavirus and keep people safe during this pandemic. Additionally, our governor, Roy Cooper, has made them mandatory to wear in public as of June 26.
As a result of Cooper’s decision, retail employees working through the pandemic have become one of the main groups receiving backlash from face mask opposers. Even though workers are only following state mandates by making sure customers are wearing masks upon entry, people are taking their anger out on them. A number of recent videos have gone viral showing outraged customers yelling at workers and even destroying mask displays.
These angry customers have, unfortunately, created a dangerous environment for many retail workers across the country. Altercations over face masks have resulted in injured workers and even deaths. A Family Dollar security guard in Michigan was shot and killed after he asked a customer to wear a face mask in early May.
With businesses on campus beginning to open again and many students working retail jobs throughout the semester, it is imperative that face mask enforcements do not continue to be a threat to their safety. We are all required to wear them for our own protection, so there is no reason to become argumentative or violent against innocent employees.
There are plenty of issues to debate in politics, but the reality is that this is a health crisis, which applies to all. Furthermore, both Democrat and Republican politicians have expressed the need for face masks, showing that this should not be a partisan issue. For example, Vice President Mike Pence and Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell and Mitt Romney have all shared their support for the use of face masks recently. Their support exemplifies how masks do not need to be a divisive topic, but rather something we should all put our differences aside for in order to help lessen the impact of the coronavirus.
As we approach the fall semester, resistance to wearing masks will only lead to more cases and issues in an already challenging transition back to campus during a pandemic. NC State has also announced that students will be instructed to leave class if they do not wear a mask, meaning it would be in students’ best interest to comply with the schoolwide mask requirement.
Ultimately, cases have been rising since North Carolina began moving through its reopening phases. This means mask requirements are likely to stay until numbers decrease significantly and a vaccine is available. If you really want mask requirements and the virus to end sooner, wear a mask to protect yourself as well as our community this fall and remember to respect workers who are only doing their job.
