What to make of these bizarre anti-stay-at-home protests in capitals around the US?

What to make, for example, of the hundreds of people in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who, today, are standing close to one another and making no effort to protect themselves from a virus that is very deadly? And how can the president brazenly promote demonstrations that can only worsen the economic crisis and place the lives of thousands of Americans in danger? It's already known that between 60% and 80% of all Americans do not want to return to work until the virus is under control. Also, reopening the economy will not revive job and equity markets in any significant way if a large part of the population has no confidence in the handling of the public health crisis. In short, there is no good reason for these protests.

If such is the case, then what are these people on? Are they just bored out of their minds? No, they know very well what they're doing. It is not much of a mystery. These men and women on the steps of this and that statehouse want the public to see their whiteness, which they know cannot be challenged or punished.

The one thing that COVID-19 did to whiteness was put it on hold. There were other things for the public to think about: obtaining resources for hospitals, checking the spread of the virus, gathering and transmitting information about practices that can protect lives. But what about being white? What about the color that defines much of American politics? Remove the over-representation of whiteness, and the GOP will not control the White House, the Senate, and the Supreme Court. These protesters are demanding nothing more than the return of whiteness to its proper place in American life. It has not been there for a good two months, and for some that has felt like an eternity. Whiteness for them is more precious than life.