Many years ago when my first memoir Planet of the Blind came out I was roundly attacked by the National Federation of the Blind. As near as I can tell their complaint about the book was fueled by the ableist lingo of certain book reviewers who said all kinds of predictable junk about overcoming blindness and miracles and the like. What the NFB did was to attribute reviewers’ positions as being emblematic of my own thinking, which is silly.
There are other people in the disability rights community who don’t like me because I’m outspoken. I have a habit of talking about human rights without declensions–that is, I don’t categorize types of injustice as an excuse for not speaking up. As Howard Zinn says: “You can’t be neutral on a moving train.” I have often labeled social service organizations and charitable foundations as being part of what we call in disability studies “the defective people industry” and when you do that you invariably alienate some folks. In the United States we spend less money annually on curing eye diseases than is budgeted for the Broward Country (Fla) Sheriff’s Office. You can look it up. There’s no doubt that I’m irascible.
Some disability advocates think I’m too “mainstream” which means that my books are published by well known houses and ergo, I’m not down in the trenches with the fighting masses. You see how this goes.
Some years ago I published an article in the New York Times Magazine where I said that Braille needs to be saved from technology. Then I went to a bookstore someplace to give a reading and some blind people accosted me, saying that I was opposed to Braille. People can give you plenty to say. It’s no different in the disability world than in politics or business.
If you want to be liked, keep your mouth shut and stay home.
Bernard Berenson said: “Life has taught me that it is not for our faults that we are disliked and even hated, but for our qualities.”
I suppose that’s only conditionally true but it’s a comfort of sorts.
In summary: I’m a progressive, anti-war, poetry writing communitarian who helps strangers whenever I can. Though I’ve taught at four colleges and hold a professorship at Syracuse University I’m not inpressed by titles. Every day I think of the blind child in Kenya who made me a decorative dog from a discarded Coca-Cola can. I don’t like people who insist on being called “Doctor” if they’re not carrying a medical bag.
No wonder so many people don’t like me.
Planet of the Blind 
Think of some of the most beloved heroes in history, SK, and you’d also find some of the most reviled people in history: Christ, Lincoln, MLK, Gandhi…people hated ’em so much, they killed ’em all — speaking one’s mind is definitely not for sissies. And please do NOT call him “Mr.” King. He earned that doctorate fair and square, and put it to darn, good use. Doncha think?
LikeLike