Ski-Mask Paranoia Across The U.S

By Demitri DeLuca-Lyons
December 20, 2023

On June 15th, the Philadelphia City Council proposed a bill which would effectively ban ski masks with the intent to cut down on violent crime. Specifically, this bill calls for a fine up to $2,000 for wearing a mask or other article of clothing typically used to conceal with the intent to “imitate or threaten another person” or to conceal their identity on public or private property. This bill has seen its final action and has been passed since November 30th with a 13:2 tally but still must go through Mayor Jim Kenny of Philadelphia before anything can take effect. This bill was prompted as a response to multiple cases spanning from June 2021 to July of 2023 where assailants who committed violent crimes - all cases presented resulted in murder and went cold so to speak because the police department failed to properly identify and apprehend the perpetrators.

For the purposes of this bill, a ski mask, balaclava or other forbidden wears are described as “a close-fitting garment covering the whole head and face, with holes for the eyes, mouth, or nose, or any combination of the three.” There are listed exceptions to this bill, which state a non-appliance to:

A.) Wearing a traditional holiday costume;

B.) Worn for religious purpose;

C.) Engaged in trade or employment where such may be necessary;

D.) Worn for theatrical production;

E.) Protecting the wearer from winter-like conditions;

or

F.) Engaging in first amendment activity, i.e: Protesting.

Many are concerned that this bill is targeting young African Americans, as Tara Schiraldi of the Defender Association of Philadelphia says: “The criminalization of fashion popular with black and brown youth puts Philadelphia in terrible company,” likely pointing towards the wearing of clothing such as ski masks and balaclavas in rap music videos, which is a prominently and historically black-dominated genre of music that holds significant meaning to the culture. Others are equally as fearful of the precedent this sets for future bills, holding the opinion that banning clothing should never be a point of discussion because it gives the government too much power to pass other bills that can limit the range of freedoms we have, such as passing a ban on wearing hijabs or shirts with specific messages or symbolism appended onto it.

The question has now become, how can we draw a line that secures our freedoms from being encroached on while having that balance of safety? This discussion seems to have been going on for much longer than just the lifespan of this bill and constantly requires moving goalposts with no conclusion.

Sources

Defender Association of Philadelphia