When leaders talk about banning masks for safety, they ignore the safety of many diverse communities. People who are higher risk, and Asian people have been attacked for wearing masks. Black and Brown communities are disproportionately targeted by police. Safety means EVERYONE.
There is zero evidence mask bans are effective against crime or hate. But there's a lot of evidence that shows banning masks will put everyone's health at risk, and increases harassment and targeting of higher risk people and communities of color. Mask bans make cities LESS safe.

@luckytran The incidence of COVID outbreaks immediately after maskless Trump campaign rallies compared to the lack of outbreaks following peaceful BLM/George Floyd protests in 2020 offer anecdotal evidence.

Many counties that hosted Trump rallies had a significant increase in Covid-19 cases
https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/29/health/covid-trump-rallies-counties-cases/index.html

Black Lives Matter protests and COVID-19 cases: relationship in two databases
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7717330/

Many counties that hosted Trump rallies had a significant increase in Covid-19 cases

A CNN investigation of 17 Trump campaign rallies finds that 14 of the host counties – 82% of them – had an increased rate of new Covid-19 cases one month after the rally.

CNN

@femme_mal
Covid is 2x as deadly among American blacks as it is Whites. And if is even deadlier in Native Americans.

At least in the short term. In the long term risk should be about even: early death from age related diseases with a focus on cardiovascular disease and dementia. The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics always collects its due.

@luckytran @hannu_ikonen

@noyes @luckytran @hannu_ikonen BIPOC people have understood that not only were their risks greater, some of the risks would be exacerbated by a racist inequitable health care system.

So they wore masks while protesting.

Whites attending Trump campaign events didn't bother because they didn't expect bad health care treatment if they needed it. Poor foolish Herman Cain.