A city official in Southern California is facing criticism after she compared her refusal to wear a mask during the coronavirus pandemic with Rosa Parks’s historic fight against racial segregation.
Jessica Alexander, a member of the Temecula City Council, made the remarks last week during a council meeting in response to debate about how long the body should continue hosting virtual meetings in compliance with state COVID-19 safety measures, The Press-Enterprise reported on Friday.
Alexander pointed to the 1955 arrest of Parks, a Black woman who became a civil rights icon after she refused to give up her Montgomery, Ala., bus seat for a white man.
“Look at Rosa Parks … She finally took a stand and moved to the front, because she knew that that wasn’t lawful,” she said, according to video obtained by the outlet. “It wasn’t true, so she took a stand. At what point in time do we?”
“I’m getting pushed to the back of the bus,” Alexander continued. “This is what I’m telling you I feel like.”
The former New York Police Department officer and Marine Corps veteran went on say that she “cannot” and “will not” wear a face covering during the pandemic.
“So it’s not that I want to be disrespectful,” she said. “But the fact of the matter is, when is enough enough?”
Temecula, located about an hour north of San Diego, has roughly 114,000 residents. The city has had 7,455 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 78 deaths, according to data from the Riverside County Health Department.
The council ultimately voted 4-1, with Alexander voting “no,” to continue hosting virtual public meetings through June.
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California council member compares her refusal to wear mask to Rosa Parks's civil rights fight https://t.co/yUtZioNo5j pic.twitter.com/5Rg005hASQ
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