Unmasking Prejudice?
George Washington University (where I teach) this week became one of the last major universities to drop its mask mandate. Many students had long declined to follow the mandate, but the decision was met with relief by many at the school. Yet, some are vivid about the lifting of such mandates in various schools. One is a professor at the University of British Columbia who has participated in roundtable discussions as an expert with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Dr. Amy Tan is a Clinical Associate Professor in Palliative Care and Family Practice at UBC’s Faculty of Medicine and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Calgary. She recently issued a blistering attack on those going maskless as being “racist, ableist, and classist.” The comments raise long-standing concerns that masks have become a vehicle for social and political rather than medical agendas.
According to media reports, Tan responded to a user who defended labeling non-maskers as “racist.” The user denounced dropping the mandates and added:
“once again and always – white people, you do not get to say what is or isn’t racist. stop speaking for and over BIPOC.
learn your place, sit down, shut up, and listen to us. your white saviorism is killing us. whiteness is a problem. oof.
(read & listen to James Baldwin! <3)”
Tan appeared to agree and added that “not masking is racist, ableist & classi
Article from LewRockwell
