ATL Standard

As Atlanta's Morris Brown College announced the return of mask mandates, author James Lindsay, PhD. called for college students to protest such mandates on First Amendment grounds. 

“College students and others across America should be preparing for mass protest against mask mandates citing a First Amendment right to engage in political speech, which refusing to wear a mask can be construed as in any environment attempting to mandate it,” Lindsay posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), founder of the website, “New Discourses.” 

“The second they mandate wearing a mask, it's a political issue, so refusing to wear one in such a condition can be construed wholly as a political statement,” said Lindsay. “The First Amendment provides strong protections for political speech.”

Lindsay is the author of the 2019 book, “How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practice Guide”, as well as the 2020 book, “Cynical Theories.” The latter was a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller.

Lindsay’s tweet comes as Morris Brown College plans to reinstate mask mandates for the start of the coming school year.

Dr. Kevin James, president of the college, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the college “has received no reports” of COVID-19 cases on campus, and said the mask mandate represents “precautionary measures.” 

In response to the college’s mandate, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) posted on X, “Americans have had enough COVID hysteria. WE WILL NOT COMPLY!” 

Founded in 1881, Morris Brown College lost its educational accreditation from the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) in 2002  "for shoddy bookkeeping," reported Southern Digest. Four years after losing accreditation, the college's former president pleaded guilty to "embezzling millions of dollars in federal funds." The college's accreditation was finally restored last year.