By now, a lot of folks have seen video of a disabled man rising from his wheelchair to stand for the US flag, by way of insisting that if he can do that, everyone else *must* do it. I offer this video as an alternative to ableist nationalism, w/ explanation. 1/

I share this w/ my son Fu’s permission. Fu has a rare joint disorder, one our current President mocked on the campaign trail in 2016. Fu chooses to use a wheelchair or to walk, w/ or w/out crutches or a walker, based on a # of variables on any given day. 2/

When Fu immigrated to the US via int’l adoption, he was amazed by accessible bathrooms & school buses. He said, “In America, I can go anywhere I want.”

When he found a broadcast of a church service, he marveled, “They y’all about Jesus on TV, & the police don’t come.” 3/

He picked up right away on what candidate Trump was doing in 2016. “I think he tries to look like someone with AMC (arthrogryposis).” I was sick to my stomach when I discovered it was true.

By 2018, we were bombarded w/ anti-immigrant campaign mailers from conservatives. 4/

One day Fu declared, “Maybe America does not want me, but I still want America.” He set a personal goal: carry the flag outside & raise it on our porch. It took him several months, but he did it.

Posting the US flag in front of our house was Fu’s way of saying, “I belong.” 5/

My role in this as Fu’s parent was to support him, to document his self-affirmation, to amplify it when he thinks it’s time.
It’s time. Last night a man just a few years older than Fu used the transition from wheelchair to walker to demand others stand for the US flag. 6/

The implication is that one’s dignity, one’s belonging, perhaps even one’s right to access the “unalienable rights” afforded in our Constitution is predicated on a willingness to offer obeisance to a powerful symbol as part of a larger corporate worship ceremony. 7/

What Fu explores instead is the employment of that same powerful symbol as a signifier of the neighborhood he is pleased & proud to be part of—a community of accessibility, where people can practice their faith traditions w/out fear of police action. 8/

He chooses the mobility option most convenient for him to employ that symbol, by way of affirming *how* he belongs: independently, publicly, sometimes wordlessly, by himself or w/ others, w/ no expectation of how that should look for anyone else, & respecting their belonging. 9/

If he wanted to affirm that on a day when a walker or wheelchair worked better for him, he would find a way, & he is confident that he can ask for support to carry out his plan.

I won’t try to encapsulate the difference, but I share it, because Fu wants to share it. 10/10

ps-Having seen some disabled folks say last night reminded them of times @ church, when they felt maybe they weren’t praying hard enough, I hope non-disabled people exercise mercy.
As my son YoYo indignantly put it, “What’s there to be healed from? He’s disabled. Deal with it.”