Journalist – Historian – Speaker
Lydia Brown has a great new essay on internalizing ableism. We all consume the oppressive mental structures of our society – racism, ableism, classism, sexism, etc. – and replicate them within our discourse, actions, and thoughts from time to time. It’s part of why I think apology and restoration of community is so important and …
Last week I was pleased to see the announcement of this new rule tracking ways in which racism and ableism intersect in our school system. From the National Council on Disability press release: The National Council on Disability (NCD) – an independent federal agency – applauds the new “Equity in IDEA” rule proposed by the …
Roxane Gilmore, former first lady of Virginia, believes that disabled people should enter the governor’s mansion through the basement, for “aesthetic” reasons. A plan to build a wheelchair ramp at the Virginia Executive Mansion is turning into a tussle between old and new Richmond, with Gov. Terry McAuliffe saying the alteration will create a more …
This case is from 2012, but I first noticed it on this DailyKos diary. It’s a perfect example of the “cult of compliance,” a phrase I’ve been using since 2013 to link otherwise discrete incidents of police brutality, creeping authoritarianism, and broader examples of cultural discourse that venerate compliance as the greatest of all virtues. …
Peter Singer came to town to talk about altruism for a humanities festival. Local disability activists (sadly not including me), picketed the event, and the Daily Northwestern covered it. In their interview with Singer, he revealed something new to me. Singer’s extreme utilitarian views has led him to argue many things with which I disagree (i.e. …
“Only hotel guests can use the accessible door.” Logo of the ADA 25: 1990-2015. From http://www.adalegacy.com/ It’s 11 at night on the 25th anniversary of the ADA and the four of us have just arrived at the W Washington hotel. They have a spectacular bar on the rooftop with a view looking out over the White …
A few days ago over on my Facebook page I shared the story of the school district that took away a blind child’s cane and replaced it with a “pool noodle.” The cane technically belongs to the school district, and when the bus attendant reported that he was waving it in the air and potentially …
At Thanksgiving dinner, a friend of my parents, A., was the lone non-family guest, as his wife was out of town. At one point, we were discussing dinner and how we had tried to rein in the feast a little (excess rather than excessive excess), and I said, “We tried to pull back from our …
Donald Ray “Hambone” Wilson, an African-American man has schizophrenia. This fact was known to the police. He was shot in the chest. In this video, he is surrounded by police as he holds a steak knife. He is clearly in mental health crisis and as the police engage into close proximity, they become in danger …
Ableism in Action – These are comments from my recent CNN article on Kanye West. These are not trolls. These are people genuinely trying to express their thinking. Italics are me. Many of the issues here relate back to my post on “Hidden Disabilities,” featuring longer comments from readers. hgflyer lollardfish • 7 minutes ago …