Guest post by Persephone Smith-Donohoe, 14 year old disability advocate, musician, martial artist, dancer, and big sister. This essay was originally written as an 8th grade assignment and was voted Best Presentation by Persephone’s classmates and went on to become an inspiring speech presented to students and teachers.
On November 3rd, 2014, Jillian McCabe took her 6 year old son, London, to get ice cream. After, she took him to the middle of the Yaquina Bay Bridge. She picked him up, then put him back down again. Then, she picked him back up, said “sorry,” and threw him over the bridge. She walked back to her car, called 911 and admitted to killing London. Journal entries conclude that she had been planning the murder for weeks. The reason she did it: because she felt burdened by having to take care of an autistic child. Many people defended her saying “well she was put under so much stress taking care of a child with ‘special needs.’” September 20th, 2016, North Carolina, Keith Lamont Scott was a black disabled man who was sitting in his car, reading while waiting for his son to come home when he was shot and killed by the police. The officer who shot him faced no charges. Joseph Nathaniel Weber was a non-speaking autistic man who was confused and scared as he tried to find protection in a home for disabled people when he was shot and killed by Kansas police on sight. Mitchell Wilson, age 11, was bullied for having muscular dystrophy to the point where he suffocated himself to death. Disabled people’s lives are not valued in our society. Many parents have beaten and murdered their children for the sole reason that they are disabled. And nearly half of the people killed by the police in the U.S. are disabled. Disabled people are constantly persecuted and discriminated against every day. Our history is filled with the bloodshed of our disabled ancestors. Their stories of oppression and mistreatment have been overlooked and ignored. Our everyday language is packed with slurs against people with disabilities, and the media continues to perpetuate it. We need to start recognizing ableism as the serious issue that it is.
Ableism is not a new or uncommon thing. It has been happening throughout all of history, but still we overlook the suffering of disabled people. Just by living in 2017, you probably know at least a little bit about racism, sexism, homophobia, and other oppressed minorities, but the majority of people have never even heard of ableism. Ableism is the discrimination against disabled people and though it’s overwhelmingly common, it goes unrecognized constantly. More than 7 out of 10 people with disabilities report being abused and yet still people pretend like it doesn’t exist. Disabled people aren’t getting support or help because we aren’t giving them the safe space to do so. Because when they do speak out, we shut them down and belittle them. But they’re probably just making it up or exaggerating because they’re ¨retarded,¨ right? During the Holocaust, Hitler made the T4 program which made it so that people with disabilities would be murdered because he wanted the “master race.” The T4 program ended up killing approximately 275,000 people with disabilities. This program was inspired by the American Eugenics Movement, which had the same idea of killing disabled people to “eliminate” any traits they perceived as “negative” from the human race. Even now scientists are trying to make technology to “fix” disabilities before the child is even born. Businesses are legally allowed to pay their disabled employees just pennies an hour and Goodwill takes advantage of this law all of the time. We can’t keep our backs turned to this injustice anymore. The longer we continue to ignore and silence the disabled community, the worse ableism will become, and the more innocent people will be harmed and killed.
Throughout this history, our language has become loaded with derogatory words and phrases that target disabled people. The English language has hundreds of ableist slurs that are used every day by ignorant people who know nothing of the harm they are inflicting on the disabled community. When people find out that their words are discriminatory, they are defensive and continue to say the words after they know its true meaning. Because of this, many disabled people are hurt for trying to stand up to oppression. A lot of the word’s meanings have changed as well, which leads people to believe it’s okay to use them as slurs. It’s not. “Mental retardation” used to be considered the preferred term when referring to intellectual disabilities. The term translates from Latin to “slow,” so it was used in the medical field to mean that the disabled person would meet their milestones at a slower pace. However, this word stopped being the medical term when people started using it as a slur. Similarly to the R-word, words like dumb and lame were used differently as well. Dumb means unable to speak and lame means unable to walk. Individuals with Down syndrome, a genetic difference caused by the appearance of a third 21st chromosome, would be diagnosed as a “Mongoloid Idiots.” “Duh” was used to mock the way people with low muscle tone talk. Words like “imbecile,” “moron,” “spaz,” “derp,” “cretin,” and “feeble-minded” have similar histories. By using these words casually, it diminishes its history and causes pain to those around you who might have been or known someone who would have been considered “mentally retarded” or any of the other words listed.
The media is also to blame for the widespread acceptance of ableism. Many media outlets perpetuate ableism by using ableist language, turning disabled people into comedy and using disabled people as inspiration or plot devices. Most TV shows and movies have that one character that’s a little different from the others and generally the butt of many jokes. Some examples are Patrick from Spongebob, Stimpy from Ren and Stimpy, Karen from mean girls, and many other characters portrayed as “stupid” for comedic effect. Some characters have specific disabilities are made fun of throughout the film for entertainment. Take Gerald the seal from Finding Dory as an example. Then there are the characters that have physical disabilities who are “overcoming” or are turned into villains with a grudge against the person who caused their disability. Many TV shows and movies do a good job portraying disabled characters, but then use them as a plot device to help the main character grow and have no relevance after that. Nearly all movies and TV shows use ableist language as well. Legally Blond, Clueless, That 70s Show, The Wolf of Wall Street, and many more all use the R-word in negative ways. Even in the news, disabled people are almost always used as inspiration or as the object of pity. When people are constantly exposed to this type of discrimination, it’s hard not to adapt to it and start using the same language and laughing when someone does something “stupid.” Society has etched into our brains that being smart is good and being “stupid” is bad. That our IQ determines our self-worth. But being able to recreate patterns with blocks and do a certain amount of math problems in 30 minutes doesn’t say anything about your creativity, your ability to empathize, or your determination in things you love. We need to get rid of this ridiculous idea that not being society’s version of “smart” makes you a less deserving of a happy life. The next time you laugh because someone does something you perceive as “stupid,” ask yourself, “why do I find this funny? Is this idea rooted from society’s ableists beliefs?” And the next time you call someone “stupid” think to yourself “why is it a bad thing to not meet society’s expectation of intellect?” I challenge you to change your mindset and ideology around what it means to be “smart” or “stupid.” We can’t continue to let the media control the way we perceive disability.
Ableism is a very real, very serious issue that needs more recognition. Disabled people are mocked, beaten, and murdered every day. The list of disabled people killed by their parents and caregivers in the past 10 years is so long, it would take nearly 45 minutes to say all of their names. Not only have parents betrayed and hurt their children, but police brutality has taken many disabled lives as well. Our society has trained us to believe this is okay. Our language has given us the weapons to inflict pain upon the disabled community. Our history is haunted by the cries of disabled children who have been left in the streets to die. We can’t just sit and watch this discrimination anymore. We need to stand with the disabled people in our communities. The current events in America are scary for all oppressed groups, including disabled people. Our new president does not care about the rights of disabled people. He will not try to protect their rights and he will not try to protect their lives. We can’t let our government steal the rights of our friends and family with disabilities. We must take a stand against the oppression and bigotry disabled people are subjected to day after day. We must work to grow as a society that’s accepting of all people! All races, all genders, all religions, all sexualities and all abilities! And we must never fail to recognize the pain of another oppressed group again!
Works Cited
“Ableism/Language.” Autistic Hoya. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.
Agorist, Matt. “Cops Kill Speech Impaired Autistic Man Trying to Find Safety in Home for People with Disabilities.” The Free Thought Project. The Free Thought Project, 24 Aug. 2016. Web. 9 Mar. 2017.
“Crime Against Persons with Disabilities, 2009-2012.” Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.
Everton Bailey Jr. | The Oregonian/OregonLive. “‘Sorry,’ Mom Said as She Threw Son off Oregon Bridge after Weeks of Planning His Death.” OregonLive.com. N.p., 23 Feb. 2016. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.
O’Hara, Mary. “Up to Half of People Killed by US Police Are Disabled.” Mary O’Hara: Lesson from America. Guardian News and Media, 29 Mar. 2016. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.
“People with Disabilities.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.
“Retard.” Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.
“Survey Finds Disability Abuse Widespread.” Disability Scoop. N.p., 10 Sept. 2013. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.
lauren smith-donohoe 