During the protest, parents shouted “no more masks” amid some of them yelling obscenities at mask wearers. As tensions increased, a few parents pointed their fingers and screamed in the faces’ of health care officials.
As of August 10, Tennessee has a 56 percent positivity rate amongst COVID test takers, the Mayo Clinic reported. The New York Times reported the state has seen over 41,206 new cases of the virus over the past two weeks. Currently, the CDC recommends children wear a mask while indoors. The president voiced his disapproval of the parents’ response to the school board heading this advice.
“I saw a video and reports from Tennessee of protesters threatening doctors and nurses who were before a school board making the case that to keep kids safe, there should be mandatory masks,” the president said in an address. “And as they walked out, these doctors were threatened; these nurses were threatened. You know, our health care workers are heroes. They were the heroes when there was no vaccine. Many of them gave their lives trying to save others.”
During his tenure as president, Biden has headed the words of medical officials, recently resuming a policy of mask wearing at the Whitehouse. Vaccination has stood as one of the administration’s central focuses in their effort to stop the spread. To boost vaccination rates, Biden issued a statement late last month introducing a mandate for federal workers and service members, offering pay leave reimbursement for those getting the vaccine, calling on governments to offer $100 incentives, and promoting pop-up vaccination clinics at schools.
Right now, Tennessee stands as the ninth least vaccinated state in the country, with 46 percent of the population having received one dose. Despite the risks associated with this rate, the school board’s temporary mandate comes with exceptions for both medical and religious purposes. Teachers are also allowed to remove their masks when standing six feet away from children. Nonetheless, the perceived abridge of personal freedom angered the parents present.
“The real part of the clown show is that you all think you actually have the authority to mandate this,” one parent said. “Because there are these books that I have, and I have them as a gift for you, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, and the Federalist Papers. Also the Bible. And these guarantee my freedom and yours and our children’s to breathe oxygen.”
