A mask mandate exemption for people of colour meant to address racial profiling concerns has been removed after racist backlash, Oregon county officials said in a statement.
"The expressions of racism regarding the exception has created a ripple of fear throughout our communities of colour. The very policy meant to protect them, is now making them a target for further discrimination and harassment," Lincoln County leaders said Wednesday.
But following the announcement, county leaders received unprecedented vitriol and "horrifically racist commentary" that turned the policy into one that makes people of colour more of a target for harassment and discrimination, the statement said. The county's exemption diverged from Oregon Gov. Kate Brown's mask guidance, which requires residents in seven counties to wear masks in indoor public spaces without exemptions for people of colour.
"This seems like a reasonable response unless you just sort of take American society out of it," Trevor Logan, an economics professor at Ohio State University and a Black man, told CNN. "When you can't do that, you're basically telling people to look dangerous given racial stereotypes that are out there."
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