Bill Peace (“Bad Cripple”) has written his 500th Post and he gives those who care about disability and human rights a stirring overview of where we stand, roll, and gesture from–America is increasingly hostile to the poor and to people with physical challenges of all kinds. I urge you to read his post.
I blog because of the wolves at my door. That’s of course Edgar Rice Burroughs, and his wolves were creditors and his blogging was Tarzan. My wolves are metaphorical and that’s not fair to the wolves, the real ones, for indeed they have enough trouble. Probably my wolves are crows–they’re just waiting for me to drop dead so they can eat my best parts. Alright, forget metaphor. There is a generalized “ableist” cultural dynamic, as present among neo-liberal academics and creative writers as it is among human resources officers; present among democrats and republicans; it runs across all ethnic and racial divides. People with disabilities are often, at best, poorly admitted to culture’s circle, grudgingly admitted–and at worst they’re prevented from inclusion. This holds true whether we’re talking about jobs, education, the right to enter public spaces, and, yes, even to stay alive.
At a writing “residency” where I teach occasionally, I was talking with a woman faculty member. Like a lot of people she imagines I can’t see anything at all. (Most blind people these days can see a little bit, but I digress.) While I was talking to her she was busy looking beyond me, craning her head, trying to see who she could talk to who might be more important. I’ve seen this with plenty of people. Trust me, I don’t have bad breath. In truth, they want to get away from the blind guy and talk to a real person. That’s how ableism works. It works in hundreds of insidious ways.
Bill Peace has done an excellent job of highlighting what’s on our cultural radar. He is one of the reasons I blog. If he can keep up the good fight, so can I.
This ain’t no kidding around. Something half wolf, half crow is knocking.
Planet of the Blind 
I couldn’t agree with you more! It never ceases to amaze me the variety of ways that people treat me as a disabled person, especially as a disabled woman.
I just wrote the first part of a two part blog post on ableism. I hope to have part two up in a couple of a days. It will address the specific issues I’ve encountered surrounding my gender and disability.
Keep up the fight!
LikeLike