NO MASK BAN in the name of Jewish Safety
Phone Zap Instructions
After each call, please fill out this debrief form.
UPDATE: A new version of the New York mask ban proposal just dropped — and we need to shut it down. Governor Hochul is now pushing a policy that would punish people for wearing a mask if accused of other offenses (like menacing or harassment). In a time where dissent is being criminalized, this will only make our communities less safe.
Let’s be clear: Hochul and state lawmakers are weaponizing real fears about Jewish safety in order to curb freedom of speech, increase government surveillance, and fuel growing authoritarianism.
In addition to being devastating for disabled and immunocompromised people, criminalizing masks will allow police to target Black, brown, disabled, poor, trans, and queer people — including Jewish people among them. Saying no to any mask ban means protecting each other and protecting democracy — and we know thriving democracy is an antidote to the dangers of fascism.
Hi, this is { Your Name }. I am a constituent and member of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action in New York. I’m calling to urge you to oppose any legislation that penalizes masking in the budget or beyond, including sentencing enhancements. This kind of policy punishes people for protecting their health and disproportionately harms marginalized communities that are already over-policed.
Governor Hochul and the original cosponsors of the mask ban bill are saying that criminalizing masks will fight antisemitism and keep Jews safe. As a Jew, I wholeheartedly disagree — it will do the opposite.
Criminalizing face coverings puts people's health at risk — especially people with disabilities. It will be selectively enforced against target Black, brown, disabled, poor, trans, and queer people — including Jewish people among them.
In New York’s history, mask bans have been used to curb freedom of speech and increase government surveillance. There’s no reason to assume a sentencing enhancement for wearing a mask wouldn’t be similarly utilized to selectively silence protestors the police disagree with. We know from our history that freedom of protest and strong democracies keep Jews safe.
If they talk about crime:
I share your concern around violent crime, however, if someone assaults a New Yorker, that is a crime, if they are wearing a mask or not. There is not a need to create additional laws or enhancements around that, and there are multiple recent examples of people who have committed crimes being located even when they were wearing a mask. Furthermore, we know that hats and sunglasses are also ways to conceal faces, but we would not ban those.
“But it’s not a mask ban”
Whether it’s banning masks or banning “masked harassment,” the result is the same. It makes it more dangerous to mask.
If they talk about the origins of mask bans being about stopping KKK:
I appreciate the history that you shared. While an original intention was around the KKK, it was also a way for the state to crack down on rent protests. They’ve also been used to target important protest movements, including anti-war protests in the 1960s, and to criminalize trans and gender-nonconforming people.
Additional KKK History: State mask bans were put in place by segregationist governors as a way to appear “progressive” while passing racist policies. Anti-mask laws didn't weaken the Klan – public backlash did, decades before the law was ever used against them in New York in 1999.