ILLINOIS (WAND) - All Illinois shoppers out and about during the pandemic are asked to tip their masks in order to avoid confusion and anxiety between the public and business owners.
The "Tip Your Mask" initiative is a coordinated effort involving multiple Illinois police departments. With store owners concerned about people hiding their faces and potential crimes being committed, people are asked to slightly lower their mask and briefly show their faces when they enter a store to let employees know they are simply there to shop.
People are asked to wash their hands and sanitize as soon as they can after tipping their masks.
Gov. JB Pritzker is mandating Illinoisans wear face masks in public beginning May 1. The CDC currently recommends people do this.
Reverend Wonder Harris, founder of the Village of A Thousand Elders, told NBC affiliate KWQC business owners in East Moline told him it would ease their minds if people would tip their masks and show they were just in the store to buy things.
"If people were to commit a crime, they wouldn't tip the mask because they'd be caught on camera," Harris said.
In comments to KWQC, Pastor Darryl Thompson said he and other minorities might feel concerns about racial bias and could be hesitant to wear a face mask in public. He told his son to only wear a mask once he's inside of a business due to fears of what other people might think about a black man wearing a mask.
"It's really an adjustment for me," he said. "It brings anxiety and frustration because I know in my subconscious, in mind and heart what it kind (of) represents in our community.
Once something is in your subconscious mind and it's something you dealt with all your life, making that mental change is going to take time."
Various police departments told KWQC they support the "Tip Your Mask" initiative. Moline Chief of Police Darren Gault gave the following statement to KWQC:
"The Moline Police Department recognizes that the culture shift of public mask use requires all of us to view this from a different lens. Some people, particularly those in our communities of color, are apprehensive about wearing a mask. What once may have been viewed as an attempt to conceal identity, now is a public health recommendation. This requires all of us to make adjustments in everyday situations. I am encouraged that our community leaders are looking to collaborate on ways to help adjust to a new normal. It is important that our community plays an active role in helping us all adjust to these new ways of living, interacting, doing business and supporting the economy. These are just some of the new challenges we will all face over the next several months. It probably won’t be the only conversations we have about how to deal with situations that we haven’t even thought of or prepared for yet."
