Is it about "shame" or just not taking additional, unnecessary risks? Like I understand the desire to hold fellow activists accountable and ensure our tactics are meeting the goals, and sure, being willing to go on the chopping block is a necessary trait in activism, but we don't all have to martyr ourselves to get the job done.

I get it - white people are able to bloc up for an evening and then go back to our day-to-day lives without necessarily having to worry about ICE raids or other targeted state violence. People of color do not have the luxury to "demask" from their identity. It's a white privilege we should be able to recognize.

That being said masking up does embolden more people to take action and for more extreme action to be taken, which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the scenario. In the case of Berkeley it was a good thing - can't say for sure whether or not masking up ensured its success but I can tell you there likely would've been a lot fewer people out and a lot more arrests. I also know that Brownshirts were out and about that night and the more violence directed at them the better.

On the other hand if you're going to an otherwise peaceful protest to throw a bloc party with your white friends that's just going to move the message from the people you're supposedly marching in solidarity with to you.