Don’t let the sensationalism of anti-lockdown protests or the excessive media reporting on them give you the wrong impression. The protests, attended by a loose affiliation of tea-party types, anti-vaxxers, and right wing paramilitary groups, and financed by dark money, represent the opinions of a vanishingly small number of Americans. In fact, an overwhelming number believe that the lockdowns and other measures meant to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus are a good thing.
But whereas the media outlets, politicians and protestors all claim that these protests represent the will of the working class, polls have repeatedly shown that the less income you have, the more likely you are to be concerned about infection. The major problem is not the lockdown policies, then, but the twin problems of governments not doing enough to ensure working people are protected during this time and private employers not taking the appropriate steps to ensure those workers deemed “essential” have safe work environments.
We have written several times already about the terrible choices that fall on working families, and disproportionately on women of color, are being forced to make between making rent and feeding their families or prioritizing their families’ health and safety. Although Pandemic Unemployment Assistance payments can help alleviate some of this strain for some, for many fear of evictions, utility shut-offs, and uncaring landlords or mortgage remains an overriding concern.
Additionally, employees who are required to return to or remain at work are deeply concerned that their workplaces are not safe. A new wave of strikes is hitting the nation this week as more warehouse, delivery, meat processing, and health care workers struggle to shine a spotlight on workplace safety and the broken promises of employers who are eager to return to business as usual, even at the risk of facilitating future outbreaks.
So, while mainstream media tries to sensationalize anti-lockdown protests and conflate them with the struggles of working class people, it is important to remember, as Sarah Jones recently pointed out, that these protests are more a continuation of Obama-era culture wars than they are about working class struggle for employment rights and safety.
