Arizona's rugged individualism poses barrier to mask rules

PHOENIX (AP) — With the coronavirus spreading out of control and Arizona cities beginning just last month to require residents wear masks in public, a few hundred people gathered in Scottsdale to make clear they didn’t approve of the heavy hand of government telling them to cover their faces.

A city councilman, Guy Phillips, came to the podium and ripped off his black face mask, declaring, “I can’t breathe!”

He later insisted his comment was meant to highlight the oppressive nature of masks, not to mock the dying words of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, though Phillips' words were widely interpreted as racist.

The episode highlights the visceral opposition to government mandates, a fierce individualism that has endured among some in Arizona since the days of the Wild West. The buzz-off attitude is taking on new importance as the state has become one of the world’s top hot spots for the spread of the coronavirus.

The message that “my mask protects you, your mask protects me,” isn’t always well-suited to the mind-your-own-business mentality of a state that produced Barry Goldwater’s small-government conservatism and John McCain’s self-styled “maverick” persona.

“Historically, Arizona has been something of a loner state, and many Arizonans seem to still like that image,” wrote David Berman, a retired Arizona State University professor who has written extensively on the state’s history and political culture.

“It’s a very strong streak in Arizona. It has been for a long time — ‘We’re out here, we’re individuals, we don’t need the government, keep it small, let us do our thing,’” he elaborated in an interview. “Arizona has problems trying to quell these instances of individualism and fun-loving, ‘I’ll do it myself. Get out of my...