Ableism: Snow or Sibling Revelry??

Scenario #1: A conversation during snow shoveling.

Me: “I am so sick of the cold and the snow.”

My Daughter: “Me too, let’s boycott!”

Can you picture us pulling on our shorts and sandals and marching on the weather bureau?

Of course you can’t!
• It’s ridiculous.
• It won’t help.
• The problem doesn’t warrant it (snow is one of the two problems in the world that actually will go away by itself if you ignore it long enough!)

Scenario #2: After dinner clean-up.

Three teenagers jostling and wrestling all around the kitchen getting in each other’s way and arguing. All three end up in one corner of the kitchen wrestling over the same dish towel, youngest child being both squished and stepped on.

Youngest sibling delicately whispers to the others, “Pardon me, elder siblings; I seem to be standing under your feet.”

Can you imagine ANY younger sibling using this tactic? Can you imagine any older siblings responding to it???

Of course you can’t!
• It’s ridiculous.
• It won’t work.
• The situation is urgent and those who hold the power are not going to give it up because of a whispered suggestion from their victim!

She needs impact NOW. She needs to yell to be noticed. And once she has their attention she needs an effective strategy. She could change the meaning of the situation (get everyone laughing); convince them that they are causing problems they don’t intend (like they are hurting her); or invoke higher power by calling “MOM” who will make the other two finish the job without her if they don’t stop (she may have other choices as well, but those are the 3 favorites!)

There are people in the disability community who believe that ableism is a Scenario #1 situation, That, like snow, it will go away if it is ignored.

I do not know why they believe this.

Throughout history when babies with disabilities were left on hillsides to die, treated as court jesters and more right up to legion 2009 examples (and it’s the 2nd of February, for cryin’ in the sink!):

• The official recognition that Washington is not accessible prompts the inaugural committee to tell people with disabilities to avoid the inauguration (rather than improving their plans….)
• Chris Matthews in reporting on the inauguration draws disparaging inferences about wheelchairs and the status of people who use them (throwing in Dick Cheney to amplify the insult!)
• Saturday Night Live attempts to lampoon Gov. David Paterson using ‘blindisms,’ not once, but twice (yep, they did the same stupid stuff again this weekend—in spite of being asked not to by the American Foundation for the Blind.
• 20 years after the ADA the country is not accessible, 35 years after education laws were passed (PL 94.142 which later became IDEA) education for kids with disabilities is still being debated….
• New Hampshire is considering legislation that will categorize conditions where people are not dying as terminal to make it easier to assist them with suicide (and deny insurance, I’m sure.) Society believes better dead than disabled even though people who have the disabilities repeat and repeat and repeat that they like their lives…

I can add examples to this list daily--there are also daily advances, but they are not enough to cancel out the ableism.

Ableism is not going to go away on its own and it is keeping people with disabilities from education, jobs, community inclusion, and is even endangering their lives. We can’t ignore it and hope it will melt away. We need to get the world’s attention. We need to change the negative cultural narratives about disability, we need to convince the powers that be that they are creating outcomes they do not intend, and we need to engage the powerful on our behalf.

Ready. Get set. Go!!!!

(Note to Gov. Paterson: You need to develop some flamboyant mannerisms or start wearing bowties like Bill Nye the Science Guy or a scary hairpiece—or is it hairdo—like Blagojevich so that SNL has something to riff on. Clearly they are not going to come up with anything on their own!!)

Ableism, Accessibility and the Inauguration: Doing the Math

When I was in high school I have to admit I was not a great math student. I faced new concepts (and some old ones) with a combination of confusion and intimidation that blocked even the faintest possibility of success. Finally, I stayed after school for extra help (though I held out no hope) and the teacher I worked with turned out to be great. She taught me a principle that made it possible for me to learn math, and that eventually became a foundation for logical thinking.

She told me, “If a principle works, it works for any number.”

Then she would have me do the complex equation with the number 2 or 5 until I understood it. In this way I learned things I had managed to miss completely for years… and I eventually passed the class. (Frankly, my dad probably also told me this 10,000 times, but he was my dad. I didn’t hear it when he said it! Sorry Dad!)

Extrapolator that I am, today I apply this principle way beyond math. When faced with a complex question of ethics I simplify it for myself by applying it to other groups or situations to see if I understand it better. It is not a perfect razor, but sometimes it helps.

So, let’s talk about the inauguration.

Carol Florman,of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies announced to the press early in January that the inauguration would not be accessible, transportation would be shut down and travel would be long and obstructed so those with disabilities, small children and the elderly shouldn’t come…

What other minority should we substitute into this equation? Let’s think about African American’s…

Would it be acceptable to tell African-American citizens that the inauguration would not be safe or appropriate for them so they would be better off staying home? Cilla at Big Noise points out that the Disability Rights movement has many lessons to learn from the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s—what have we learned about exclusion and segregation? Could we tell African-Americans that they would be better off watching the inauguration in a place better-suited for “their kind”?

As much as I love our new President’s disability platform, I find the ableism and inaccessibility that were evident at the inauguration terribly upsetting. It feels as if, in our administration, the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing…

(And can you tell me, after 20 years of the ADA, why our nation’s capitol is NOT suited for people with disabilities??

And why, when becoming accessible is required do disgruntled folks blame “those people with disabilities” rather than the business-owners and policymakers of the last 20 years who should have taken care of the problem years ago?

Sorry, I digress!)

When I discussed the inaccessibility of the inauguration with folks they told me I was unreasonable… whining even.

I was told there had only been 2 months to plan (don’t inaugurations happen every 4 years??) and that “those people” should content themselves with the TV since many people weren’t going (people who made that choice for themselves, may I point out?)

Then, at the inauguration itself former Vice-President Dick Cheney was using a wheelchair and commentator, Chris Matthews remarked that his wheelchair use was a metaphor for his lowly status in the eyes of Americans….

WHAT????

A wheelchair is a tool used for mobility. It makes no implications whatsoever about the status or capacity of its user. None.

And let’s try our substitution exercise:

Which minority could we put down in that way without consequences? What if something about Cheney reminded the announcer of the GLBTQ community and the announcer used THAT as a metaphor for something negative?? An announcer making that sort of remark would have to apologize—he might even lose his job.

And the fact that these glaring gaffes are either invisible or seem perfectly reasonable to most people in 2009 is utterly appalling. This is the living breathing definition of ableism among us.

So, the inauguration is in the past. What now?

Join the folks at the AAPD in demanding an apology from TV announcers who make ableist remarks. Thought while speaking is required. Ableism is as demeaning as any other ism and must end.

Write to Obama’s administration and ask them to gather their inauguration committee and some folks versed in Universal Design and use this fresh inauguration experience to design accessible events NOW. So we never have to have this conversation again.

We can do better than this, I'm just sayin'.

Gary Pressley has some thoughts on this subject as well. See here, here and here.