One of the hallmarks of woke progressive identitarianism are the simultaneous beliefs that systemic racism is ubiquitous -- and that sometimes the solution to racism is different racism. This is part and parcel with the concept of 'equity.' Mere equality isn't good enough. 'Justice'-minded discrimination is deemed necessary and even essential. That mindset is precisely what gets us this sort of twisted, amoral, explicitly racialized public policy:
NY Dept. of Health authorizes antivirals for all people of color regardless of risk factors, but only for whites w/risk factors.
— Coleman Hughes (@coldxman) December 31, 2021
The innocent idea that "racism is prejudice plus power" (so whites can't suffer racism) may not be so innocent after all. https://t.co/waZnBRIsIG pic.twitter.com/HjRac8XBTC
It's not as bad as the Cuomo administration's lethal nursing homes fiasco and cover-up, but this is a deeply perverse way to make decisions -- and yet, it's what New York has implemented. And it's not the first time public officials have infused pandemic policies with explicitly racial considerations. We wrote about this disgraceful episode in Chicago early last year, which came on the heels of other similar moves elsewhere. Meanwhile, here's the Empire State's new governor (who has insisted on keeping masks on young children, with no basis in science) insisting that mitigation measures can "control" Omicron:
NY Governor Hochul on Covid:
— Eli Klein (@TheEliKlein) December 31, 2021
“Numbers are continuing to increase. They don’t have to. We can control this.” pic.twitter.com/vk4nPlHbMD
How, exactly, governor? Not even a fellow tri-state area Democrat seems to buy into that fantasy at this point:
Q: Gov. Lamont, will you reinstate the mask mandate in Connecticut to curb the current spike?
— Daniela Altimari (@capitolwatch) December 27, 2021
A: Well, it's not curbing the spike in New York City.
Explain how masking children at school, for example, will stop the spread of a variant that does this:
All 25 researchers were fully vaccinated and one had a booster. They all took multiple PCR tests and despite negative tests, still quarantined for 10 days. And they got it anyway. #FactsNotFear https://t.co/BTNrrv1gr2
— Kelly Victory MD (@DrKellyVictory) January 2, 2022
And here's a top medical expert conceding that commonly-used masks are basically worthless against Omicron:
At this stage of the pandemic, cloth masks don't provide much protection against COVID-19, according to @ScottGottliebMD. pic.twitter.com/pvX5McVnzX
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) January 2, 2022
I'll leave you with the new Mayor of New York City making sure no one confuses his public statements with the last guy's, for reasons explained on CNN's New Year's Eve coverage, of all places:
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) January 1, 2022
Five minutes after midnight, @Andy tears into @BilldeBlasio. Wow! pic.twitter.com/mYmPc2rBgj
— April Ponnuru (@AprilPonnuru) January 1, 2022