To protest or not to protest during a pandemic?

In the aftermath of George Floyd's police killing, I was curious about how my peers were reconciling their desire to protest racial injustice with the directives to keep a distance from others during a global pandemic. Being a part of community clean-up efforts and participating in peaceful protests felt like a meaningful contribution to the movement and ultimately worth the risk of contracting COVID-19. As I moved through crowds, physically closer to strangers than I had been since mid-March, I became hyper-aware of my presence. Not only as a white person complicit in systematic racism, but as a person who could unknowingly be carrying and transferring COVID-19.

After not seeing my friends for months, I was suddenly carpooling to protests and rallies with them. While we maintained as much distance as possible between ourselves and those around us - depending on the situation - it was entirely impossible. If not for our masks and those other people wore in public, one might forget that we're still staring down a pandemic. This mindset, I recognize, is dangerous.

Equipped with hand sanitizer, sunscreen and cardboard signs, and our masks in place, we joined the masses in the streets. What we found was a collective understanding that, despite the constraints of a pandemic, the racism and violence that is ingrained in our society cannot continue. Furthermore, issues of race and the health crisis are not isolated. Medical professionals argue that white supremacy is a public health issue and that the ongoing COVID-19 crisis disproportionately affects Black and brown populations, making it all the more necessary to speak out.

While my peers and I talked about and processed the events in the community and around the country, we also discussed our thoughts and fears surrounding COVID-19. Practically speaking, I wondered how my friends confronted the risk of being teargassed, knowing that COVID-19 can cause respiratory distress? How did they continue to take part in protests and gatherings without knowing how these events would affect the public health of the community? To gain more perspective, I asked some friends to share their thoughts on protesting during a pandemic.

Photos by the author.

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