Letter one.
Young cripples. You are hated by many. You sense this. You
may directly experience hatred. You likely have been segregated to “resource
rooms” and deemed “special” in secondary schools across the nation. You are
often the only cripple present--the lone person using a wheelchair. You feel lonely
and isolated. I feel this too. I feel
loneliness in the marrow of my bones. Get over it. Do your best. Try hard. It
is okay to fail. I have failed to get over a feeling of alienation my entire
adult life. I hope you will not feel the
same when you are as old as me. This is probably not going to happen but you
can hope. I hoped, and believed, I would be equal someday in my lifetime. I no
long believe that. It is a bitter pill to swallow.
Never given in to the hatred. Never give in and accept less
in life. When you are given what superficially appears to be a good deal stop
and think. Cool you are going to be the only kid who will get a taxi ride to school. No bus rides. No
bullies. Why the largesse? Some typical other person in authority is too cheap
to authorize a lift on the bus. You are not worthy of the expenditure. You are
less. Fight back with vigilance.Do not accept crumbs doled out to the crippled so we are not seen and supposedly treated with selective kindness.
Forge ahead on your own. Let Mom and Dad go. They will not
be able to advocate for you someday. I hope they have taught you how to self advocate.
Like it or not, you will spend enormous amounts of time advocating for yourself
and others like you. The world, both physically and socially, has not given you
any consideration. Our physical structures remain largely inaccessible. Our
social environment is hostile and you will encounter ableism at every turn
because it is built into the fabric of society. You need to face ableism head
on and do your best to undermine it in any and all ways. You are not just one
person. You represent others. If people tell you that you have a chip on your
shoulder you are doing something right. When a biped tells me this I reply I have a boulder
on my shoulder. Being angry is healthy. Social injustice does that to people. You
will encounter social justice—it is part of a cripple’s life.
Never forget our people. We are largely poor. We are
unemployed in large numbers. We are white. We are black. We are fat. We are
thin, tall, ugly, gorgeous, and more. We are simply human. Never forget you are
a human being—homo sapien sapien. We are symbol builders and tool makers. Most
of all we are adaptable and wildly creative. Embrace the art of disability. Embrace
it because you will wake up in the middle of the night alone. You will think “I must be wrong. I am not fully human. I am
a rotten person. I am a drain on others.” Don’t go down that rabbit hole.
You are a good person. You have human rights. Oppression is wrong. Ableism
kills. Do not give typical others the satisfaction. Resist.
1 comment:
"boulder on my shoulder": Intended or not, I like the Springsteen reference!
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