The federal government and major health officials have managed to rekindle the divide in America that hasn’t been this distinct since the Civil War.

Here is the debate.

Should you wear a facial mask to defend against the Chinese coronavirus or should you not?

Should we force our schoolchildren to wear masks at school?

Do masks prevent contamination by the virus and stop the spreading of the disease?

Should school districts and states decide on mask mandates or should it be the federal government under the instructions of the Centers for Disease Control?

The controversy has come to a boil in Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Legislature passed a law that states that public school districts cannot issue mask mandates for students, teachers and staff unless Gov. Kevin Stitt declares an emergency and so far, he hasn’t.

There is medical evidence that masks are ineffective and actually may do more harm to students than good.

Some school districts are already publicly stating that they will not obey this state law but will order that everyone in their buildings wear a mask.

Even if you are for masks, you should be alarmed that these schools officials casually ignore state laws. Some districts are planning to sue to negate the law and that is their privilege. But it is not their right to publicly disobey a specific law.

This is a bad example for the students of their districts. Their message is, “if we don’t like the law, we won’t obey it.” And this is not a moral issue.

And the liberal media is missing one huge point in this debate. Students, teachers, administrators and staffers can voluntarily wear masks to school. The law doesn’t not forbid that and it doesn’t discourage that.

This will be a hard divide to heal.