IT'S hard to escape the feeling that people's health concerns over a series of protests held across Australia over the weekend had more to do with their preference that the rallies not go ahead than real concerns about the potential for spreading coronavirus.
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Because the loudest voices condemning the rallies seem to come from those least likely to support the rallies' intentions.
Most prominent was federal Finance Minister Mathias Cormann who called the rallies "completely reckless and irresponsible", drawing predictable praise from those who would generally support his government and criticism from those who would generally oppose it.
Business groups have also weighed in, angry that so many the protests went ahead while so many shops remain shut, and there have been obvious comparisons to the banning of this year's Anzac Day marches and continuing limits on the number of people allowed to gather for funerals and weddings.
Given all that, we suspect rally organisers were well aware that now is not the ideal time to be organising a mass protest.
Our community has been locked down for almost three months and we're only now coming out of lockdown.
Having thousands of people come together inevitably created a risk of infection but, given the low active case numbers now in the community, that risk was much lower than would have been the case a month or two ago.
But those organisers would also have been mindful of the need to strike while the iron is hot.
Sadly, the issues of racism, discrimination and even isolated cases of police brutality will likely remain long after the coronavirus crisis has passed, but the current global groundswell of support for action may not.
There is a momentum building and the weekend's protests were timed to build on that momentum. Holding them in six months' time risked missing the mark.
And holding the protests now helped send the message that those taking part believe the systemic, generational problems in our country are more important than the crisis of the moment, no matter how damaging that crisis might be. Supporters will agree with that analysis, opponents won't.
But there's something discomfiting about hearing the people least likely to be affected by racism loudly pronouncing that an anti-racism rally should not go ahead, regardless of the reasons they offer.
