A liberal proposal

Via the Ragged Edge, I came across this little gem. The question basically being "would it be Ok to ban the handicapped from public transport because they are so inconvenient?"

As a response, I would like to write a letter to Erica, the author:

Dear Erica,

Is it fair that the public transportation system only adequately serves the privileged majority? Is it fair that that people with disabilities have little if any reliable transit service that gets them to work on time? Is it fair that society oppresses people with disabilities with their attitudes of hostility, superiority, and pity?

What people with “special needs" really need is not segregated transport. They need society to understand that they, too, need to get to jobs, want to get to the store as fast as possible, want to get home to loved ones as soon as possible. People with disabilities don’t ride public transport because of “public accommodation,” they ride it because the right to convenient, quick, reliable transit service (if such exists) belongs not solely to the hundreds of able-bodied people.

If unreliability gets your goat, take a second look around. There are people who don’t know if they will ever be able to hail a cab, meet their friends at a resturant, get around inside a store, get through sidewalk construction without adding 20 minutes to their morning commute, etc. All of this because we, the privileged majority, do not consider or value those different from us. The same societal attitudes and values that oppress women and gays also oppress people with disabilities.

If you want the world to be more reliable, join the fight for equal access.

Sincerely,
The Able-Bodied Student

Ps. I'm pretty sure “handicapped” went out with “faggot."

The part that bothers me the most is this was from a fairly liberal woman. I understand that all liberals are perfect, but I really don't see the liberal side of politics really working to represent people with disabilities more than the conservative side. (Yes, I understand that Democratic policies are more likely to benefit PWDs more than Republican policies, but neither side has taken a stand and acknoledged PWD and the struggle against an ableist world.)

The author of that piece also often writes of women's/GLBT rights. To me, those are so related to disability rights. Many of my friends are strong supporters of GLBT rights (and most all are generally more liberal than me) but don't understand why using the word "cripple" is an issue. (If I say something about word choice, they switch to "special needs"/"differently abled"/"handicapable," etc.)

In related news, I'm reading Robert McRuer's "Crip Theory" about the relationship between crip theory and the more well known queer theory. It's really interesting, but perhaps a little too deep into the interplay between crip/queer rights and capitalism/globalism for my tastes.