“Threats and racist statements turned it into a policy that now harms,” Lincoln County officials said yesterday in a statement, responding to the backlash they received for a policy that exempted people of color from wearing masks.
The Oregon county issued a directive last Wednesday that required residents to wear a mask in any public setting, whether indoors or outdoors. But before the new modification, the directive exempted people of color from wearing face coverings, citing concerns over "racial profiling and harassment.”
The directive split from Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s order that did not include exemptions for non-whites.
In an amazing attempt to spin the backlash in their favor, Lincoln County officials claimed that the policy was meant to protect their communities of color. Protect them from what, exactly? Definitely not from the coronavirus.
“We are shocked and appalled at the volume of horrifically racist commentary we have received regarding this policy exemption,” officials said after receiving backlash for an inherently exclusive policy. Now, they're revising the order - but only because they say it's elicited even more threats against "communities of color."
“The expression of racism regarding the exception has created a ripple of fear throughout our communities of color. The very policy meant to protect them, is now making them a target for further discrimination and harassment,” officials claimed in their statement.
It was not one week ago, when the Babylon Bee published a satirical article claiming that Chick-fil-a was open on Sundays for black people only, that this directive was issued. The satire writes itself these days.