Disclaimer: I am writing this as a physically abled and neurotypical person whose life is not directly impacted by ableism. I cannot write about the experiences of people who do have disabilities and are in fact impacted by ableism and I can only amplify the words of those people.
#OnThisDay: The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed 25 years ago #ADA25 Watch → http://t.co/C0M3NqeyUFpic.twitter.com/Di2PqrSPn3
— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) July 26, 2015
A group of handicapped people led by 8-year-old Jennifer Keelan, left, crawl up the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, March 12, 1990, to draw support for a key bill now pending in the House that would extend civil rights to disabled persons. The group of about 1,000 people or rode in wheelchairs down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the Capitol. (AP Photo/Jeff Markowitz)
The American Disabilities Act was only signed into act 25 years ago, with its birthday being just a few days ago. The Act is legislation that prohibits discrimination based on disabilities and to make sure that people with disabilities have the same opportunities.Getting the ADA signed into legislation took decades of advocating and in March of 1990, a large scale protest took place at the foot of the Capitol building in Washington DC. That protest eventually became known as the Capital Crawl, as those protesting were people with disabilities literally crawling their way up the 83 stairs in protest.
Want to see a video of me and a bus driver arguing for 4 minutes about whether I can get on the bus? http://t.co/I5qsi7cZet #ada25
— Liz Henry (@lizhenry) July 26, 2015
But just because the ADA has been federal legislation for over two decades does not mean the fight against ableism and discrimination based on disabilities is over. The ADA is far from perfect and the fight for justice will have to continue. Erica McFadden wrote about how after 25 years, there is still not equality for people with disabilities, especially in jobs. Hannah Finnie also wrote about how discrimination against people with disabilities still happens, saying in particular that:
The ADA … acts as a sort of dam for discrimination against people with disabilities: it blocks much previously legal discrimination, requiring larger bathroom stalls for people with disabilities … for instance. But the dam also has a few holes in it, permitting systemic discrimination against people with disabilities to flow through. Discrimination under the guise of religion is one such hole–a gaping one.
And ableism is still something that happens on a regular basis, something that the ADA hasn’t stopped yet. Over at disabledfeminists, there’s a post from several years ago about the five things to know about ableism, including what exactly the term means. There is also a difference between ableism and disableism – both terms are defined below to highlight the differences:
Ableism – a set of practices and beliefs that assign inferior value (worth) to people who have developmental, emotional, physical or psychiatric disabilities.
Disablism – a set of assumptions (conscious or unconscious) and practices that promote the differential or unequal treatment of people because of actual or presumed disabilities.
(source)
There are ways, of course, to avoid everyday ableism (including stopping with the inspirational porn), ways to help stop hate crime against people with disabilities, and ways to act as an ally to people with invisible disabilities. It’s also important to acknowledge that mainstream feminism helps to perpetuate ableism (in addition to other -isms…), particularly in regard to using ableist language. It is so important that every able bodied and neurotypical person works against ableism whenever possible.
There are so many things to keep in mind in this discussion as well. Remembering that language can often be problematic is crucial – for example, Lydia Brown wrote over on Black Girl Dangerous about how the term ‘pyschopath’ is both racist and ableist. Also remembering that intersectionality is always important in any discussion, like how Rory Judah Blank wrote about how capitalism, racism, and disability all work to fuck people over.
Today, the hashtag #BlackWomenEqualPay on Twitter has been taking about the intersection of race and gender in regards to wages and money. Sarah Mirk wrote an article about five facts to know today about the issue, including the fact that women of color are more likely to work for minimum wage than white Americans (despite being one of the most educated groups in the US). Today was chosen as the day for the hashtag because it would take a black woman a year plus until July 28th of the next year to make what a white man is paid in one year.
Actively dismantling white supremacy is more than past due. We as white people have hundreds of years and countless generations of spilled blood and violent colonialism and it’s time that we destroy the system that allows for police brutality against communities of color (especially black people) goes unchecked, that allows for things like slavery, Jim Crow, and so many other things to be perfectly legal.
[Image from artist Toby Allen’s Real Monsters project and text reads: “The Borderline Personality monster is one of the most delicate but perhaps the most sinister of monsters. They gather in small swarms around their victims and use pheromones to heighten the emotions of their victim before feeding upon the emotional energies. They feed upon any emotion but tend to favour feelings of depression. The monster is made almost completely of clear ice, rendering it invisible. Only the maple shaped leaf on its tail is visible to the naked eye and looks like a falling leaf. At times when the monster gorges itself too much on any given emotions, it can overwhelm them and they shatter like glass.”]
It’s taken me pretty much my entire life to finally identify as trans because I never saw myself as being enough to identify as trans. A big part of that was I lacked the resources and community to understand what being trans is for most of my life – I was 20 years old when I first met a trans individual and had no exposure to the trans community before that.
But the thing is? I’m 23 years old and dog walking and house sitting has been so great over the last few months. I love hanging out with dogs and people’s pets because I just love animals. This has been the first job in which I’ve been able to hang out with animals and it’s just been so great. (Despite how stinky they can sometimes be…)
This is yet another really late post and many probably have already heard what happened but I still wanted to write about Bree Newsome – the black woman who scaled a flag pole and removed the confederate flag that was still flying over the South Carolina capitol. She, along with her partner in crime who was on guard below the pole, were both arrested and were charged with “defacing monuments on state capitol grounds”. There has been a petition started to drop the charges that also has more information.