Through the Headlines:
The Politicization of COVID-19
PANDEMIC
POLITICS
THE IDEA
In the past two years, COVID-19 has proven to be a virus in more than just a biological sense; it infected people's ability to reason, dampening compassion and making hate contagious. The virus eventually made its way into Washington D.C., where it was treated as a political pawn rather than an illness that was killing millions of Americans. Democratic politicians championed campaigns of strict mask mandates and accessible vaccines, while Republicans ran on opening all businesses and returning to "normal," despite inadequate vaccination levels. This added to the already shaky foundation of American politics, which took a turn when former U.S. President Donald Trump was elected into office in 2016.
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This divide was made obvious in the actions of U.S. citizens, with right-wingers still refusing to get vaccinated while left-wingers call them obscenities for doing so. It is seen everywhere — it made its way into Netflix Originals and stand-up comedians' sets; strangers fight on social media and in real life. This political division has also opened the door to violence, perhaps the most notable example being the 2021 U.S. Capitol Coup, in which white supremacists and Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol in protest of President Joe Biden's election over Trump. Although this event, along with the other forms of the political divide, was the culmination of several movements and issues, it cannot be denied that COVID-19 was a major contributor that exasperated everything else.
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Instead of uniting to fight COVID-19, the people of the United States of America failed to live up to their country's name. ​
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However, one group of people was required to stay neutral, no matter what was falling apart around them: American journalists. Although it's undeniable that biased news sources and reporters exist — acting as their own evidence for political division — many have spent the past two years simply reporting the truth of the matter. As a result of their efforts, we are able to look back at the headlines and photos captured during the pandemic to to see the reality of the politicization of COVID-19.
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This website aims to capture these headlines and photos to highlight the politicization of COVID-19 and the damage it has caused.
THE ESSAY
This website is inspired by my essay "When a Virus Becomes Political in a Red State," which discusses my personal experiences seeing the politicization of COVID-19 while living in Texas. It discusses anecdotes such as a coach pulling off my mask and classmates refusing to wear their own, all of them sharing a common trait — they were right-leaning and viewed the virus as a political pawn. Using this website, I aim to provide more context for the politics at the time, and show evidence for the divide I discuss. Below is a copy of my original essay.