The Knight Times ∙ August 2021
Opinion ∙ Page 7
Anti-masking agenda foreshadows a repeat of the Spanish Flu CONNOR SMITH Editor-in-Chief As I scanned through the Internet trying to find senior quotes for my yearbook page, I stumbled upon a certain quote that I felt applied to the world we live in today. It comes from the writings of Chicago-based journalist Sydney Harris and says, “History repeats itself, but in such cunning disguise that we never detect the resemblance until the damage is done.” While the United States has seen this repetition throughout wars and politics alike, I
exact origins of the virus. It is only called the Spanish Flu because Spain’s neutrality in the war allowed unrestricted journalism, through which the first cases of the virus got reported. However, once the war ended, multiple countries reported massive spikes of influenza-related deaths. According to the National World War II Museum, the US Navy said that after the end of the war, 40% of servicemen had been affected by the virus. As the virus began to move across the globe, eventually killing at least 3% of the global population, cities across the US at-
Thousands of people continue to support the anti-masking movement. Photo courtesy of washingtonpost.com. felt this specific quote directly corresponds with the pandemic we continue to live in today. So, to understand the issues surrounding the pandemic, it may be worth looking back 100 years to the Spanish Flu. This pandemic began toward the end of World War I, as soldiers from the frontlines in Europe returned to their native countries. While this strain of influenza was called the Spanish Flu, it is important to understand that scientists don’t know the
tempted to control the pandemic. The most notable city was San Francisco, which was one of the first cities in the US to institute mask mandates and quarantine restrictions. After the flu killed 200,000 Americans in October alone, according to the New York Times, California mayor James Rolph signed a mask ordinance that required all citizens to wear face coverings of at least 4 layers of thickness. Sadly, as we all know too well, many Americans were angry at
the then-called “government overreach.” Called mask slackers by local media, many San Francisco citizens would tie masks around their dogs as “muzzles” in protest. Cigar shops even advertised for customers to cut holes in their masks so they could smoke during breaks. With police forced to arrest all those not wearing masks, county jails became filled with slackers. One railway worker named Frank Cocciniglia was sentenced to five days in prison for violating the mask mandate, to which he replied, “That suits me… I won’t have to wear a mask there.” As more and more people became upset with the mandates, discussions around mask wear slowly became political. In January of 1920, the Anti-Mask League was founded by none other than the political opponent to Mayor James Rolph, E.J. Harrington. In the months following the league’s founding, masks were used not as a medical device, but as medical historian Brian Dolan put it, the symbol of individual choice against universal compliance. Now, as you have seen, the events that occurred during the Spanish Flu pandemic are remarkably like what is happening now. As the school year begins and local governments enforce new mask mandates due to the Delta variant, many Americans have refused to “muzzle” their kids and see masks as a symbol of government control. These beliefs have also continued to fuel the anti-vax rhetoric that continues to prolong the pandemic by making herd immunity fundamentally impossible. So why do many Americans continue to fight against pandemic restrictions even though history has proven them wrong? In my opinion, this fight stems from the misinformation and misunderstanding of pandemics. Maybe people think COVID-19 will disappear just as quickly as it appeared. Maybe people compare the virus to the flu and believe they don’t need medical
protection. The Spanish Flu was seasonal and only lasted for around a year. It wasn’t that bad, was it? What these people don’t understand is that COVID-19 is different from anything we have encountered in modern history. This pandemic isn’t going to disappear in a month, nor is it going to
“ These beliefs have continued to fuel the antivax rhetoric.
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stop killing people. I hope that by understanding how history repeats itself we can learn to prevent these problems from occurring again in the future. After the Spanish Flu, nurses organized to create a strong nursing infrastructure to prepare for future diseases. Governments around the globe began to allocate more money to health infrastructure to prevent such a disaster in the future. However, as we have all discovered, this was not enough. While some of these improvements have helped decrease the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it could have been better. By advancing education, maybe the average Americans will trust government health mandates and work together to end pandemics in the future. By increasing healthcare, maybe more lives could have been saved. For any of this to happen, it is important to understand how past events made us what we are today, and hopefully, through this understanding, we can ultimately stop future global disasters.
Simone Biles deserved to take a mental health break JAZZMIN DUNCAN Opinions Editor Simone Biles did nothing wrong. In fact, not competing was the best thing she could have done. While it is disappointing to not be able to see the best gymnast of all time compete, dropping out is the best thing that Simone could have done for her health. Stepping down is a very admirable act on Simone’s part; this sets a great example for younger athletes around the world. Simone Biles was expected to be the star of the 2021 Summer Olympics; however, these expectations were subverted when she withdrew from the competition. According to TIME Magazine, in a press conference, Biles expressed that her mentality “wasn’t all there” and that she needed to work on her “mindfulness.” It makes complete sense that she would withdraw from her events due to her mental health. It’s hard to imagine what it feels like to have the entire world watching you. People would analyze every millisecond of her performance and criticize her every move, and if they weren’t criticizing her, they were hyping her up. While having so many supporters doesn’t sound too bad at first glance, after a little consideration, it becomes very clear that all that support translates into pressure. Many people automatically expected Simone to outperform everyone else simply because she was THE Simone “$imoney” Biles. High expectations breed high-stress situations. Having billions of people expecting you to show up and show out can absolutely cause endless amounts of anxiety for
fear of failing to meet everyone’s expectations. Not only can a situation like this affect her mental health, but it can also potentially affect one’s physical health too. Gymnastics is one of those sports where every step you make needs to be exactly as planned and well thought out. If Simone isn’t able to focus and get into the right headspace to compete, she shouldn’t risk it. One wrong move and her life is changed forever. If Simone hadn’t pulled out and onto that floor, tried to perform, and hurt herself, it could very well have been a huge mistake that led to her being handicapped. The arguments comparing her to athletes like Lebron James and even Michael Phelps are not fair. If Lebron has an off day, he misses a few free throws and may end up losing a game. If Michael Phelps has an off day, he may end up swallowing some water and some bad cramps. While both of these hypothetical situations aren’t favorable, they’re both nothing more than maybe a day of pain or a lost trophy. If Simone Biles has an off day, however, and she tries to vault but lands on her neck, that’s sentencing her to a lifetime of doctor’s visits and likely preventing her from competing for the rest of her life. That being said, I wholeheartedly agree with Simone in her decision to not compete. Her withdrawing, while disappointing, was for the best. She is not a disappointment to the nation or anything of the sort. She is setting a wonderful example for young athletes to prioritize their mental health instead of competing themselves into insanity or injury.
HOT TAK ES with Jazzmin Duncan Sha’Carri Richardson should have been able to run in the 2021 Summer Olympics. Before I try and argue this, I want to make it clear that I understand that she broke a
Sha’Carri Richardson. Photo courtesy of wsj.com. rule. I just think it is a pretty dumb rule. That being said, Sha’Carri should have been able to run. After Sha’Carri qualified for the Olympics, finishing first in the trials for the
100-meter dash, she had to go through a series of drug tests. To many people’s dismay, she failed. However, this failure wasn’t for anything performance-enhancing like steroids. Rather, it was THC. Sha’Carri admitted to ingesting the substance a week before the trials after learning that her biological mother had died. It is notable to add that she was in Oregon at the time, a state where marijuana use is legal. She was subsequently placed under a temporary ban from competing and barred from running in Tokyo. According to the US National Library of Medicine, there is no direct evidence of THC being a performance-enhancing drug. Therefore, there isn’t much of a reason that it should have barred her from running, though I acknowledge the rule was in place and she broke it. While I understand that she was consciously aware of the rules governing her sport, it doesn’t make much sense for the rule to be there in the first place since THC isn’t performance-enhancing. This, along with the very emotional circumstances that Sha’Carri was going through, make me think that she should have been able to run in the Tokyo Olympics.
