I watched as did most reasonable Americans in complete horrendous disbelief as the reports of the death of a 17 year old African- American young man or shall I say more pointedly most reasonable white suburban Americans were shocked ; while most African- American males probably said “business as usual. “
As a 60-year-old severely disabled man, I am acutely aware of pervasive violence that is inherent in some people towards people who are different racially, ethnically, physically, religiously, biologically, sexually or otherwise different, violence is something experienced daily.
30 years ago, I was in a position of having to move to a nursing home
inRocklandCountya most prestigious home at least on the surface. In June of 1980 just prior to my discharge to the community in August of 1980 I was assaulted by an orderly while I was sleeping in the afternoon on a Sunday. This person attempted to set my long hair on fire; Lucky for me, I heard the clicking of his lighter, and I rolled off the bed
Another situation I am acutely aware of occurred while I was training at the Letchworth Developmental/ “Degenerational” Center: a client/resident was found dead [raped, stuffed into a ceiling tile]. One of the orderlies later admitted to raping and killing the resident.
People with disabilities have been, and continue to be, a target of violence and death—just because of their disabilities. Several years ago while waiting in a local mall, I was spat on by a 5 year-old who screamed, “I hate you!” while his father watched and did nothing to train or discipline his child.
We hear in the news daily about people with disabilities having their wheelchairs stolen, their Social Security checks stolen, and being murdered by an aide. There is a reason for this: our society as a whole does NOT appreciate the contribution that people with disabilities make daily. They consider us aliens or, even “cursed”! Our President, no matter who it is, does not mention us in his ‘state of the union’ addresses. To many people we are considered, as Hitler once said, ‘useless eaters.’
Thus, we have a kinship with our racial and ethnic “minority” brothers and sisters, who are assaulted daily because of the color of their skin. We hear you, brother! God bless Trayvon’s family for their loss.
–Scott Smith, Program Director