Two events in the last few days make it clear that we have a lot of work to do in educating people, even very prominent and powerful people, who should know better, about disability issues.
First, Representative Charles Rangel (NY), in an interview with a New York radio station called Sarah Palin disabled:
"Why are the Democrats so afraid of Palin and her popularity?”
"You got to be kind to the disabled," Rangel said.
CBS 2 HD: "You got to be kind to the disabled?"
Rangel: "Yes."
CBS 2 HD: "She's disabled?"
Rangel: "There's no question about it politically. It's a nightmare to think that a person's foreign policy is based on their ability to look at Russia from where they live."
Third time lucky, I suppose.
I don’t know if Rangel just slipped up or if he really meant that Palin was disabled. (He later backtracked quite a bit).
However, what bothers me is that even if he meant to use the term disabled to describe Palin’s lack of foreign policy knowledge, he meant it as an epithet denoting inferiority.
Ergo, disabled means inferior.
Rangel never took that part back.
Rangel made it even worse by observing that we need to be kind to disabled people.
Good move, Charlie: We should look upon “disabled people” benevolently, give them a good-natured pat on the head, and send them off to wherever these curiosities are housed. And, all the while, of course, congratulating ourselves on how kind and sensitive we are to “the disabled.”
How utterly, excruciatingly, patronizing.
Second, was the Saturday Night Live skit about disability that insulted the disability community for cheap laughs and ratings. I’m happy to report that the audience obviously was more sensitive than the writers, as the skit pretty much bombed.
Nevertheless, the skit made the point that Trig had Down Syndrome because of Todd Palin’s incestuous relations with his daughters.
Yeah, real funny.
Here’s what SNL really said to the largest US minority, albeit tongue in cheek:
You are disabled because your parents are perverts.
So much for having come so far in recognizing the rights and inclusion of Americans with disabilities.
