Just Disobey or Ignore the Laws You Don’t Like. You Always Have.

            So, people are enraged and insulted and feel that their rights are being attacked by proposed or in- practice mask mandates and by the requirement of some buildings and agencies requiring that people who work there wear masks, are vaccinated, and if not vaccinated, agree to be tested according to the company’s requirements.

It’s kind of interesting to watch, because in this country, some groups of people have always ignored and/or disobeyed laws they didn’t like. People angered by rulings of the United States Supreme Court, resulting in laws being passed or kept that they sought to have the high court negate, have just simply ignored the laws for as long as possible. The law that seems to have fostered such resistance in the 20^th century was the infamous Brown v. Board Education, which ruled that “separate but equal” was unconstitutional. White people against integration decided to just keep their kids at home, and worked to create and build private schools where their children would not have to be tainted by the presence of Black children.

            They ignored the law, delayed the law, disrespected the law and suffered no consequences.

            Likewise, lawmakers – spurred by their constituents – refused to uphold and respect the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^thamendments to the US Constitution. The 13^th amendment outlawed slavery “except for the commission of a crime”, so white folks just found a “legal” way to keep them enslaved through the Convict Leasing program. Convict leasing allowed Black people to be systemically criminalized by allowing them to be arrested for “offenses” including being unemployed, not being employed by a white person, or owning or renting a house in a white community. In Mississippi and South Carolina, the first two Southern states to enact Black codes, it was against the law for Black people not to have written verification of their employment. The 14^th and 15^th amendments to the Constitution, meant to protect the right of Black men to vote, were consistently ignored, with states abiding by local laws which allowed such things as poll taxes. (https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-codes#section_2)

            When you didn’t like Brown v Board of Education, you built private schools, remember? From the mid- 1950s to 1965, private schools in the South grew like wildfire; by 1958, private school admittance (of white children) was up to 250,000. All this was going on while state governments were passing “laws” to prevent or delay the integration of schools. (https://www.southerneducation.org/publications/historyofprivateschools/) They also worked to figure out how to get public funds for these private schools, which, again, “the law” prohibited.

            So, here we are. There have been no laws passed to make you wear masks or get vaccinated, unless I missed something. I don’t remember there being this kind of outcry when the federal government required in 1968 that all automobile passengers wear seat belts. Did I miss it? I was young when the requirement was put in place, so maybe I didn’t pay attention, but I don’t remember hearing such a pulsating wave of rage over that law.

            What kills me is that these mask/vaccination laws are not being suggested to deprive anyone of their rights but are being pushed as public health practices to save people from disease and illness.  All of your political heroes, including the former president, were vaccinated. So what’s up with you? If you don’t want to wear a mask or be vaccinated, have at it, but don’t put everyone else at risk because you are having a fit over your “rights” being violated. Businesses, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities have a right to set the rules and requirements for their institutions. Remember the cake shop! If you don’t like a law or rule, you can disagree and keep your kids home like folks did after Board v. Board of Education. Schools don’t have to agree to risk serious illnesses of their students and teachers just because you have no regard for their lives. It is interesting that so many of these anti-maskers and vaxxers say they are “pro-life.”

          Pardon me for my opinion but you cannot be “pro-life” while you are actively risking the lives of children who have been born by wanting their schools to bow to your demands.

            Form your own schools and leave the rest of us alone.

            A candid opinion…