I’m Not Using Handkerchiefs Or Bandanas As Face Masks Because I’m Black Trying To Stay Alive In America

Wearing face masks making us look like bandits could be dangerous for Black people.

Being Black in the United States is already a deadly proposition.

While the world grapples with the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Black community has long been coping with an additional epidemic just as deadly to us: the use of the police to harass, brutalize, and murder us.

Living in Black bodies means we are criminalized for just being. The police are called on us for having the audacity to engage in everyday activities including:

The list goes on and on.

Tragically, these encounters with the police could — and have — ended with an innocent Black person being killed.

So there is no way in hell during this pandemic — or otherwise — I, as a Black man, am going to wear a face mask made from a handkerchief or any other material that will make me look like the stereotypical “thug” or “gangsta” this society automatically thinks I am.

I can imagine the call from an overly anxious, racist (yeah, I said it) white person speed dialing 911 from the grocery store:

“Hello? 911? Yes, there’s a Black man wearing a handkerchief on his face by the aisle with the M&Ms. Please send the police. I don’t feel safe.”

When the police do show up, it is a 50/50 chance I emerge from the encounter alive.

Fuck THAT.

This is yet another reminder of how the standards of acceptable social behavior is very different for Black people.

With our melanin-rich skin, we must always gingerly navigate our way through this country just to try to survive with our lives and sanity intact.

And often, despite our best efforts, we fail.

Meanwhile, as everyone else gets to pretend they are masked superheroes or cowboys as they adorn their faces with homemade masks made from cloth in stylish designs and colors, Black people must soberly consider the personal cost of doing the same.

Because if we miscalculate, if we briefly forget the racist lens through which the world views us, we may pay an extremely high price — which may include our very lives.

So for me, when I must leave my home to run essential errands, there will only be professionally-made, medical masks covering my Black face.

My goal is to survive not only the COVID-19 pandemic, but also society at large, and wearing a handkerchief around my face is not worth the risk.