Dr. Lucky Tran 
Saying "we can't mask anymore, because at some point we have to get back to normal" is racist. Asian countries have been masking for years. What is normal is taking collective action in order to protect others, especially those most vulnerable. #BringBackMasks
White people who are claiming "this is a reach," Asian people, have been violently attacked in Western countries for wearing masks. Western leaders have said that "wearing masks isn't in our culture." A lot of anti-mask sentiment is deeply embedded in white supremacy.
And polls consistently show white people are far less likely to wear masks than people of color.
Poll from Oct: Have worn a mask at least some of the time in the past seven days:
White 39%
Black 77%
Hispanic 63%
(Source: https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/3vmufv6ya9/econTabReport.pdf#page46)
This is also important:
"White people who assumed the pandemic had a disparate effect on communities of color were less supportive of safety measures."
Studies show white supremacy plays a role in the opposition to public health protections.
(via https://washingtonpost.com/health/2022/10/19/covid-deaths-us-race/)
Josh Barocas, MD@luckytran this is fascinating. as a white person (admittedly an ID doc and public health person), i am incredibly supportive of safety measure (and think i have a bit of empathy) precisely BECAUSE it had a disparate effect on communities of color. i was at ground zero for covid in boston in 2020, which shaped my entire perspective of WHO was going to get the worst outcomes. it's sad that this is our reality though.
@jabarocas I appreciate that and your work! Yes, it is a very heartbreaking reality to see that talking about disparities can actually decrease empathy of white folx. I think this is why trusted community messengers are so important for public health messaging in the short term, but also, if we want to change the empathy gap in the long term, there's a lot of work we need to do addressing structural racism throughout society.
@luckytran trusted community messengers AND trusted community practitioners. and in the meantime, we need other white folx to step up their game and help breakdown the culture of white supremacy. a delicate balance of calling people in and calling people out...
@luckytran too often, trusted community messengers are limited in their own upward mobility. a vaccine ambassador does not get to move beyond a vaccine ambassador (for example). would love for a true public health corps that develops people with lived experience, etc into public health experts!
@luckytran and #publichealth leaders as opposed to just rich, white guys who got a MPH at harvard.
Tatiana Trifan@luckytran @jabarocas I find the more privileged people are, the touchier they are regarding less privileged complaining. It might be due to guilt, it might be due to entitlement, to feeling superior and not linking to have others point out potential flaws. But it is always a staple for the privileged to tone-police others regarding expressions of being discriminated, abused, etc. Where I live ethonationalism is rife and this fuells all kinds of racist attitudes.