When Choosing to Wear a Face Covering is a Lose-Lose situation: State mandates and African Americans’ fears of profiling and policing during the COVID-19 pandemic
Thursday, June 25, 2020
2 p.m. – 3 p.m. CST
Presented through Zoom
A number of people of color fear that wearing facial coverings could exacerbate racial profiling and place Black and Latinx people in danger. However, with African Americans, Latinx, and Indigenous people contracting COVID-19 at higher rates than other segments of the population, not wearing a facial covering puts them at a greater risk of contracting the virus. This discussion will center around the realities of these fears. It will also look at some of the emerging data in cities like New York that show that African American and Latinx residents are being policed more aggressively and cited more regularly than others for mask and social distancing violations.
Panelists:
Michael Schlosser, Director of the Police Training Institute
Nathan Stephens, Director of the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center, Inclusion & Intercultural Relations
Sundiata Cha-Jua, Associate Professor of History, African American Studies
This seminar is part of Racializing COVID-19: A Series About the Intersections of Race and COVID-19
This multi-part series explores racism, fear, xenophobia, and scapegoating during pandemics and times of wide-spread uncertainty. It will also discuss how structures and practices perpetuate inequities and why already marginalized groups are at greater risk of further marginalization as the COVID-19 fight rages on. The series will bring together a multi-disciplinary group of experts to explore these issues, their origins, and the societal implications if these issues continue unabated.