THREAD

Someone wrote that Judge Amy Coney Barrett would bring “heart” to ‘special needs’ if confirmed to the #SupremeCourt. After showing my respect for the person who wrote that, and understanding of where they were coming from, this was my response:

“Disabled people don’t need lawmakers or jurors to bring “heart” to ‘special needs’. That’s what has led to patronizing policy which has f%¥ked over the exercise of our equality and marginalized our full participation in society over-and-over-and-over again...

It’s one of the greatest things we organize and fight against and we will continue to fight against it until the law and policy makers recognize that we are just like everyone else...

We deserve as much “heart” applied to policy and legal considerations about us as is deserved by the agricultural industry, light marine craft manufacturers, creators of intellectual property, middle class tax payers, long haul truckers, or tobacco lobbyists...

The law should treat us like anyone else. To quote James Baldwin “we are also mercenaries, dictators, liars - alas, we are human too.”

Yet our policy around disability, and in particular intellectual disability, continues to treat disabled people as ‘other’...

It’s why most “disability” groups are run and controlled by non-disabled people who insist that disabled people are not worthy to center the issues about us around our viewpoints, our leadership, our needs...

It’s these organizations who have the funds to influence our policy makers and our courts. And to excuse their behavior, and to obscure our marginalization, these groups present their policy through the frames of “kindness” and “heart”...

Res flags are raised whenever disabled people see language like “heart”. We do not want ‘heart’ from our jurors or legislators. We want equal extension and application of the law...

I’ve hoped that I’ve written the above in a way that conveys that this is not a personal attack on you. But, even if I’ve failed to do so, and people think lesser of me, it’s important to remember that disabled people can be assholes too.”

[End of Thread]