Thread by @karenvaites

.@michelleinbklyn calls for end of mandatory masking in schools post-Omicron, citing @ElissaPerkins @ErinBromage and recent writing on limited mask efficacy + costs to kids.

Making this the indisputable “Now It Can Be Said” week.

nytimes.com/2022/01/28/opi…

We had foreshadowing in her last column, which began talking about the harms of masking.

I’ll say again what I said the other day (thread)…

I hope @michelleinbklyn is connecting dots btwn voter sentiments and the *timing of* these Now It Can Be Said moments.

https://twitter.com/karenvaites/status/1486410950676779008

The often-misogynist conversation about parent advocacy for school reopening has been oversimplified to “Parents get angry with leaders when schools close.”

In fact, it’s more nuanced. Many have attempted rational tradeoff conversations for years & been rebuffed.

This part:

https://twitter.com/karenvaites/status/1486447617844420611

Disaffected Democrats are folks who’ve been trying to talk about this evidence for months, out of concern for kids/wellness.

We have watched as evidence-based perspectives failed to gain traction w/ media & many leaders. Which prolonged harms to kids.

That’s gonna erode trust.

Including trust in Weingarten/Pringle. There’s a connection to the critiques of @michelleinbklyn’s own redemption columns for those leaders.

The fact is, none of the evidence in this week’s wave of Now It Can Be Said discourse is new.

Some of us have attempted to center it.

And, of course, met resistance/political obstacles/cancellation for doing so.

You can’t really understand the Youngkin election, shifts in parent attitudes, etc. if you don’t look into those weeds.