I'm puzzled at the reaction among some disability activists in response to the Cheney-in-the-wheelchair affair.Some say objections to Chris Matthews remark ...
"And I can tell you again that metaphor here of the Vice President in that wheelchair - it is a metaphor for the low esteem with which he's held in this country. His numbers are pathetically low.
... are petty, and the energy could be better expended elsewhere. Some even accept and amplify the analogy.I don't agree, especially because the former vice president's use of a wheelchair became metaphorical fodder for a number of commentators ranging from the serious to the comedic.As a wheelchair user, I despise being used as a bad example, as a metaphor for punishment.If people with disabilities acquiesce to wearing an element of our lives as a mark of less-than, if we are assigned to appear in public as people suffering penalty, we are agreeing that others have a right to mistreat and exclude us.This goes beyond access and becomes a factor in the discussion of euthanasia.Of course, I have no right to dictate other people's responses, but I truly believe that the wealthy white men who comprise the chattering class have the displayed rank prejudice and ugly ignorance with their glib remarks about Cheney's wheelchair use.
Gary Presley
Showing posts with label chris matthews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chris matthews. Show all posts
01 March 2009
Cheney in a Wheelchair
The sight of now former Vice President Dick Cheney using a wheelchair during the Barack Obama inauguration inspired a babel of sometimes dismaying comments.
The ugliest perhaps came from MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews, who said "And I can tell you again that metaphor here of the Vice President in that wheelchair - it is a metaphor for the low esteem with which he's held in this country. His numbers are pathetically low."Matthews' words are the typical characterization people with disabilities tend to expect from the glib chattering class, the sort of comment that confirms that too many who know too little and think too boorishly have too much influence.We remain at a point in human evolution where the word disability almost automatically implies negativity. I'm old enough to remember when the same issue was discussed in reference to the word "black." Would that I live long enough that the use of a wheelchair, temporary or permanent, is worth only a casual mention.
Gary Presley
The ugliest perhaps came from MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews, who said "And I can tell you again that metaphor here of the Vice President in that wheelchair - it is a metaphor for the low esteem with which he's held in this country. His numbers are pathetically low."Matthews' words are the typical characterization people with disabilities tend to expect from the glib chattering class, the sort of comment that confirms that too many who know too little and think too boorishly have too much influence.We remain at a point in human evolution where the word disability almost automatically implies negativity. I'm old enough to remember when the same issue was discussed in reference to the word "black." Would that I live long enough that the use of a wheelchair, temporary or permanent, is worth only a casual mention.
Gary Presley
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