Written by Andrew Morris
A California Teachers Association Board of Directors member has received backlash this week for a tweeted photo maskless at the Rams NFC game two weeks ago.
The criticism for CTA member Jesse Aguilar comes in lieu of hypocritical policies of the board forcing students to stay masked through February despite the official mandate lifting tomorrow.
The LA Parent Union took to Twitter to rebuke Aguilar’s choices stating, “This California Teachers Association Board of Directors Member, Jesse Aguilar, isn’t interested in a ‘cautious’ approach for adults, only our kids. This is Jesse Aguilar. He went to NFC championship game with 70k strangers – he is #DoneWithCovid but his Union wants kids masked.”
Meanwhile, the CTA released an official statement praising Newsom’s treatment of the Pandemic in recent months and “cautious” school protocols going forward. The hypocrisy of Aguilar and others towards kids who have little to no risk regardless of mandates.
Conversely, Gavin Newsom received similar flak last week as his own tweet maskless with Magic Johnson circulated; though Newsom adamantly denied any fault.
“I was very judicious yesterday, very judicious, and you’ll see the photo that I did take where Magic was kind enough, generous enough, to ask me for a photograph, and in my left hand’s a mask and I took a photo. The rest of the time I wore it as we all should — not when I had a glass of water or anything, and I encourage everybody else to do so.”
Aguilar took a similar approach to the controversy. “This person wants to know where my mask was. It was in my pocket. I took it off for the picture. There was nobody in front of me,” Aguilar said in the post. “I’m glad to wear my mask in a pandemic. It’s not hard and it shows I care about the people around me. I was glad SoFi required proof of vaccination. Getting vaccinated is the sane thing to do in a pandemic. I’m glad sane people behave in a sane manner in an insane time. Where’s your mask?”
It is important to note in both these cases, mandates were in place at the venue to wear masks at all times unless drinking water. Nonetheless however, the egos of politicians and board members alike seem to trump actual rules, especially the ones these very people support publicly.
Photo Cred: Carlos Avila Gonzalez/ San Francisco Chronicle
