The outbreak of anti-maskers in the United States during COVID 19 is unbelievable. Anti-maskers are a group of people that believe that wearing a mask does nothing to help stop the spread of COVID, that the masks are restricting people’s airflow and respiration capacity, and in some extreme cases, even believing the government is trying to control people by making them wear masks.

The majority of people you come across in everyday life are not going to be anti-maskers, but you may be surprised to learn that 20% of all Americans are anti-maskers. A poll from the New York Times states that 20% of all Americans are anti-masks and that 25% are in support of the movement. So that means the neighbor that lent you sugar last week could be the same person that thinks the government is brainwashing people by making them wear masks. A poll I conducted with 23 responses from students, teachers, and some small business owners found that 47.8% of these people know an anti-masker in their own life. It also states that 52.2% dislike wearing a mask in public and only 26.1% like wearing a mask in public. But even though most don’t like wearing a mask, most of us do it to keep the spread of the virus under control.

I wanted to understand more about what makes an anti-masker believe in what he or she does.

I went to several anti-masker forums and websites looking for someone I could interview. Finally, I found one. It was the anti-makers of Huntsville forum and message board. At first, I asked, “Why do you believe wearing a mask is wrong? The user stated, “Cause.”  I continued my line of questioning until I got a more fruitful response. The user stated, “I believe it is against my rights as an American to be confined to wearing a mask; it’s just as bad as putting someone in chains.”

Some might find this answer overly dramatic or possibly even offensive.

Anti-maskers may be wrong with good intentions, wrong and selfish, or right and I just don’t know it…  No matter which way you want to look at it, we are all in this pandemic together, and I think it’s best to protect people by wearing a mask.