(THREAD) It's in Trumpists' interest to conflate the #SturgisMotorcycleRally and #BlackLivesMatter protests by arguing they're being covered differently—as to COVID-19 super-spreader-event fears—by a "liberal" media. The conflation is misplaced. I hope you'll read on and retweet. 
1/ I agree US media does a poor job explaining why the #SturgisMotorcycleRally and #BlackLivesMatter protests are so very different, and that this failure feeds into the ability of Trumpists to say—to those not paying attention—that "liberal bias" explains the differing coverage.
2/ I just saw a CNN segment with @Acosta in which the excellent medical expert brought on for analysis didn't so much tick off or clearly delineate how #SturgisMotorcycleRally is *different* from other outdoor events as offer some factors that can *equally* apply to other events.
3/ The other thing US media can do better is underscore how valuable and important events like the #SturgisMotorcycleRally are to so many folks both in and out of South Dakota. In contrasting the event to anti-police-brutality protests, its value needn't be diminished whatsoever.
4/ So here are some key differences between the Sturgis rally and #BlackLivesMatter events:
1⃣ The Sturgis event is larger in size than nearly all the 2,000+ #BlackLivesMatter protests that have been held over the last 2+ months. More people means more potential virus exchange.
1⃣ The Sturgis event is larger in size than nearly all the 2,000+ #BlackLivesMatter protests that have been held over the last 2+ months. More people means more potential virus exchange.
5/
2⃣ It's not just that 250,000+ folks are headed to Sturgis, whereas maybe 99% of the 2,000+ #BlackLivesMatter protests had 1,500 or fewer people in attendance. At Sturgis, it's a *cross-state* crowd, meaning people come from and return to a larger number of different locales.
2⃣ It's not just that 250,000+ folks are headed to Sturgis, whereas maybe 99% of the 2,000+ #BlackLivesMatter protests had 1,500 or fewer people in attendance. At Sturgis, it's a *cross-state* crowd, meaning people come from and return to a larger number of different locales.
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3⃣ Because mask-wearing has been—wholly unnecessarily—politicized, i.e. treated as a metaphor and proxy for one's political views rather than just a public health measure, the more right-leaning crowd in Sturgis is *far* less likely to be wearing masks than at a BLM protest.
3⃣ Because mask-wearing has been—wholly unnecessarily—politicized, i.e. treated as a metaphor and proxy for one's political views rather than just a public health measure, the more right-leaning crowd in Sturgis is *far* less likely to be wearing masks than at a BLM protest.
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4⃣ We call the #BlackLivesMatter events "protests," but *most* of them were *marches*—which means more space covered, more movement, and more chance of social distancing than at an event like the #SturgisMotorcycleRally, where many people are spectators (not parade entrants).
4⃣ We call the #BlackLivesMatter events "protests," but *most* of them were *marches*—which means more space covered, more movement, and more chance of social distancing than at an event like the #SturgisMotorcycleRally, where many people are spectators (not parade entrants).
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5⃣ The #SturgisMotorcycleRally isn't a *time-sensitive political protest*—no matter how some may want to turn it *into* one. Even when/as Americans value longstanding traditions like the Sturgis rally, we *do* see when something is time-sensitive and/or engages rights issues.
5⃣ The #SturgisMotorcycleRally isn't a *time-sensitive political protest*—no matter how some may want to turn it *into* one. Even when/as Americans value longstanding traditions like the Sturgis rally, we *do* see when something is time-sensitive and/or engages rights issues.
9/ Those are some differences. But those of us on the left should go further and say that *if* a Democratic body passed legislation arguably affecting some Americans' rights—say a very restrictive gun-control bill—it'd be "fine" if right-leaning folks staged marches mid-pandemic.
10/ I put "fine" in quotes because the fact of the matter is, it *isn't* ideal—just sometimes "unavoidable"—for *any* large events to be held, even outdoors, mid-pandemic. And I suspect I and folks in media should do more *whenever* such an event occurs to urge people to be safe.
PS/ Whenever I've seen a mid-pandemic video of *any* protest event—left-leaning or right-leaning—in which folks aren't using safe practices like social distancing, mask wearing, staying outdoors and keeping moving, it's been concerning to me. And it really should be to all of us.
NOTE/ If we had political discourse in America—we don't, largely because we all (me included) are so angry and social media isn't made for it—I think *most* on the left would say we've little issue with an outdoors, socially distanced, mask-filled right-leaning political protest.
NOTE2/ Obviously I only focused on the five top differences between #SturgisMotorcycleRally and #BlackLivesMatter protests—but if I'd gone on, I would've addressed the percentage of event proceedings at Sturgis that actually *do* happen indoors and/or in crowded spaces like bars.
NOTE3/ The key for US media is to *not* assume that most Americans know how and why Sturgis is *so* different from #BLM protests. If media doesn't outline that—and just talks about "super-spreader event" fears—it *can* make those not paying close attention fear a double standard.
