I have thought about @GovBillLee’s foot-washing event all weekend. It’s important to get the details accurate, because we need to be specific about the toxicity of this stunt. (Of course it’s a 🧵)
1. The obvious place to start is the fact that nobody is masked—not the Gov or 1st Lady, not volunteers or school staff, not the kids.
The calculated defiance of this cannot be overstated, esp w/ a @usedgov investigation, multiple class action lawsuits, & sky-high Covid rates.
2. How did Lee arrive at this caricature of Scripture? Jesus washed the feet of some men...his *disciples*, already in relationship w/ him.
What does this have to do w/ the Governor touching public school kids? What does it imply about consent?
biblegateway.com/passage/?searc…
3. Governor Lee & the 1st Lady partnered with Charlotte, NC-based NPO Samaritan’s Feet for the shoe distribution. They do have foot washings with some of their shoe giveaways...but I can’t find them doing it in other schools.
samaritansfeet.org
It’s worth noting that the publicity Samaritan’s Feet posted about the event celebrated the partnership w/ Governor Lee as “historic” but didn’t include pictures of the foot-washing.
5. It’s also worth noting that Samaritan’s feet posts expectations for volunteers & staff at events to minimize the potential for spreading Covid.
6. So far:
*blatant disregard for children’s safety amid COVID & ongoing federal investigations/lawsuits
*appropriation of Christian traditions in a public school, regardless of students’ faith/non-faith background
*consent & healthy touch
One more issue that can’t be ignored.
7. Perry County is one of the poorest counties in the nation. Compare its stats with nearby Williamson County, where Governor Lee lives. (Source: tn.gov/transparenttn/…)
Out of 3,113 counties in the US, 261 are poorer than Perry County.
Of those same 3,113 counties, only *4*—in the entire US—are richer than Williamson County.
In his inaugural speech, Governor Lee promised to make a change for TN’s poorest counties.
tennessean.com/story/news/pol…
9. Take a look at FaceBook, & you’ll find school teachers expressing gratitude for the shoes their students were given. Parents, too. It seems a small thing, but a new pair of shoes is out of reach for many living at the poverty level in a right-to-work state.
10. It’s difficult to overestimate the currency of this tangible gift that directly impacts a family’s everyday lives. They won’t remember Governor Lee modeling reckless disregard for public health. If anything, they’ll remember he risked his own health to give their kids shoes.
11. Every time those parents see their kids’ shoes (ie every day) they will remember the Governor gave their kids those shoes. It’s not far-fetched to imagine them handed down w/ care. The next time Lee disparages unemployment wages or federal “handouts”, they’ll overlook it.
12. Having grown up poor, I know this to be true. I couldn’t try out for school sports b/c my parents couldn’t afford another new pair of shoes.
And the shame of being poor makes you disassociate it—you look for anyone in worse straits, and *they* are the poor ones, not you.
13. This is a complex moment, & unless we’re clear-eyed about what’s happening & more ready to help our neighbors than call them stupid, we’re not going to see change.
14. But at *no time* should any child have to be subjected to a life-threatening virus without basic healthcare protection to access shoes & socks for a Governor’s political messiah tour.
When you’re so poor your Governor has to show the world how he washed your feet, it hurts.
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