On this day, the school board was scheduled to vote on the mandate, and so, in accordance with the law, it did give the protesting parents the opportunity to speak. The anti mask mandate protest at WCPSS, including parental speeches, lasted over 3 hours. Mask mandate supporters showed up as well. The 9 board members, all wearing masks, gave the outcome away even before the first word was uttered. Their stern and contemptuous gazes were an obvious indication, which way will the final vote go right at the start. The entire ensuing 3 plus hours of speeches, citations of statistics and presentation of science data were virtually pointless. Although the protest was a good idea and a positive effort to have voices of parents heard, it in reality completely missed one of its main purposes. Voices sounded off, but were not heard.
Lack of Mutual Respect and Discussion
This anti mask mandate protest inadvertently pointed to a much greater problem in our society than the issue at hand. It was a jaw dropping display of the disassociation of government and the people. The people have the right to protest. But, just like any good dictator will do, even the school board manifested its superiority over the “plain folks” by showing how much the arguments bore them. The lack of mutual respect and distaste for any meaningful discussion on the side of the school board members made it obvious who’s the master and who’s the servant here. At least in the minds of the school board members. However, the control power rests in the hand of the people, but we the people seem to be forgetting that. We the people must ask ourselves whether we will tolerate this display of superiority and how much longer.
Regardless of how the final vote turned out, we the people must respect government authorities, but in return the government authorities must in return pay the same respect to us.
Takeaways From the Anti Mask Mandate Protest at WCPSS
It was clear that although the space for the people of Wake County attending the Anti Mask Mandate Protest at WCPSS to speak was given, their voices weren’t heard. The attendance of the proceedings and the ensuing vote was pretty good. The fact, that with the exception of the people speaking at the microphone and the school board members, the attendees from both camps (for and against mask mandates) were generally standing outdoors on a rainy day only goes to show the high emotions at play here. The final vote was 9:0 in favor of school mask mandates.
But the lack of care and respect for the people displayed by the school board members is what we understand needs fixing. Because the vote was not reflective of what the community of Wake County desires. Nor was it a product of a fruitful discussion. It was merely an opinion of 9 people, who came to this meeting with a personal agenda.
So, let’s fix that!